Chief Clinical Dietitian
In a smaller account, Production/Cafe/Catering Manager
would be responsible for the cafe, food production for
employee cafe and patient food. Catering would include staff
meetings, Board of Directors functions, and Foundation
fund-raisers.
Small account managers could expect to work Monday through
Friday, and rotate on-call for weekends and holidays. Larger
account managers would rotate weekends every 2-3 weeks and
rotate holidays with other management and supervisors. Each
can expect 10- 12 hours per day.
One thing that is different about hospitals:
Generally the management staff is contracted, but the
foodservice employees are hospital employees. It can be
challenging to follow not only the hospital's policies and
procedures but also those of your own company at the same
time.
Typical career path:
Generally, healthcare employers are looking for managers fresh
out of college. It is a good place to start with no
experience. You have one of two options:
- Start at a small hospital - you will be exposed
to more because there are fewer managers/employees so you
usually end up doing a little of everything.
- Larger hospital - specialize in one specific job
ie. Production or Cafe.
Lifestyle:
Again, it depends on the size of the hospital. One thing to
remember is that a hospital never closes so you'll do 50 - 60
hours per week.
A typical schedule would be 7am-5pm, 8am-6pm or 10am-8pm
and when you have to work weekends, 6am-2pm. There will always
be coverage for all three meal periods. The focus is usually
on patient tray line.
Best Part:
Making a positive impact on people who are in the healing
process. It can also be exciting being exposed to the medical
industry. You have opportunities to get involved with the
hospital foundation fundraisers - golf tournaments, etc - and
make a difference in a community.
Worst Parts:
- Unique Stressors: Because the medical staff work
under very stressful conditions, it is understandable why
they sometimes vent their frustrations on the foodservice
department. Typical stressful situations which cause staff
to erupt at you include changes patients' diets without
consulting them, patients who forget that they have a
different diet, or medications that can alter the way
foods taste.
- Being exposed to death: You may get to know a
terminal patient through meal service.
- Limited culinary creativity: Unless there is a
lot of catering, or the hospital has a physician's dining
room, you have to run a conservative menu. There is
opportunity for some creativity in the cafe menu, but
again that depends on the size and location of the
account. A small rural location would probably be limited
to comfort food, whereas a larger, teaching hospital would
probably have a more sophisticated palate and diverse
ethnic groups.
Pay, Perks and Benefits:
Straight salary; bonus is not common, but some companies have
it, especially at the higher levels.
