Customized Solutions FROM Sodexo HEALTH CARE
MEMORIAL HERMANN LEVERAGES SODEXO’S
EXPERTISE TO UPGRADE AND STREAMLINE ITS
FOOD and NUTRITION SERVICES
Custom program delivers higher patient satisfaction and retail
revenues while reducing overall costs by 22%.
“I went to a few meetings where the Directors of
the Food and Nutrition Services Departments were
trying to come up with some standardization,” recalls
Dan Humphrey, Systems Executive for Materials
Management. “It was pretty chaotic. It was clear that
we should go outside the system to get the resources
we needed to make a real change, real fast.”
THE SITUATION
Before Sodexo began working for Memorial
Hermann, the Food and Nutrition Services
Departments at each of the system’s nine acute care
and two long-term care facilities essentially ran their
own independent operation.
There was very little
consistency in Food and
Nutrition Services
programs across the
system. Purchasing
compliance with systemapproved vendors stood
at only 57%. Not all retail
programs were meeting
the customer’s needs,
and some cafeterias and
cafés were operating
with large losses. Patient
satisfaction remained low
at several locations.
“Recipes were
different at every
campus, and so was
the presentation of the
food,” recalls Marshall
Heins, Chief Facilities
Services Officer for
Memorial Hermann.
“The retail cafés were
charging different prices
for the same item, and
several of them were
not covering their costs.
Almost all were losing
money on catering.”
1
Memorial Hermann TIRR
2
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center
3
Memorial Hermann Southeast
4
Memorial Hermann Southwest
5
Memorial Hermann Corporate Headquarters
6
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land
7
Memorial Hermann Katy
8
Memorial Hermann Memorial City
9
Memorial Hermann PARC
11
59
45
Kingwood
12
10 Memorial Hermann Northwest
11 Memorial Hermann
The Woodlands
2100
290
12 Memorial Hermann
Northeast
9
Katy
10
7
Sugarland
Rosenburg
90
59
10
90
Houston
2
1
4
90
288
59 Missouri
City
6
10
8
5
90
45
290
Baytown
610
225
Pasadena
La Porte
45
Pearland
3
With more than 140,000 inpatient admissions and 640,000 outpatient
visits a year, Houston’s Memorial Hermann is the largest not-for-profit
hospital system in the State of Texas. Sodexo oversees Food and
Nutrition Services for the system’s nine acute care hospitals,
two long-term care facilities and corporate headquarters.
Sodexo’s System-Wide Impact at Memorial Hermann
Patient Satisfaction
with At Your Request–
Room Service Dining®
up
40
%
Retail
Revenue
Vending
Commissions
Product
Compliance
up
up
up
73
%
60
down
68
%
Overall
Costs
%
22%
SOURCE: Memorial Hermann
sodexo’s Solution
SYSTEM RESULTS
To meet Memorial Hermann’s unique needs, Sodexo
developed a customized solution that departed from its
normal contracting arrangements.
In the words of Marshall Heins, “Sodexo has
exceeded the contractual goals and delivered on all
of its promises.”
All of the employees — including the Food and
Nutrition Services Directors and Chefs — remain on the
Memorial Hermann payroll. These Directors and Chefs
report to their respective hospital administrators with a
dotted-line relationship with Sodexo.
All of the system’s quality indicators are up —
patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, retail
customer satisfaction. At the same time, costs are
down — as promised.
To oversee the overall system’s patient and retail
dining operations, Sodexo installed an executive team
at Memorial Hermann’s corporate headquarters. It is
their job to work with the individual Directors and
Chefs to achieve the system’s goals.
Sodexo also guaranteed Memorial Hermann a
specific dollar savings over the course of the contract.
Sodexo is at risk if the system fails to hit its yearly
savings target.
Since March 2005 Sodexo has standardized
operations, implemented best practices at all locations
and improved food quality and service across the
system. As part of this upgrade, Sodexo installed At
Your Request – Room Service Dining® at five of the
system’s hospitals. Three of those hospitals have
already moved above the 90th percentile in patient
satisfaction (an average jump of 40 percentile points)
with the other two close behind.
Sodexo also upgraded retail operations across the
system, investing capital and standardizing retail
menus, pricing and processes.
Sodexo is on track to deliver the savings it
guaranteed to Memorial Hermann. In fact, it is running
ahead of schedule.
“Once Sodexo reached a certain threshold, we split
the savings,” says Heins. “I’m happy to say they have
already crossed that threshold in FY 2009. We just
wrote them a very nice check.”
The system’s retail food sales are up 73% since
2006. More importantly, retail operations are no longer
running at a loss. This is a critical turnaround, since
retail sales (hospital staff and visitors) account for over
75% of Memorial Hermann’s food consumption.
“It’s been a great partnership,” says Humphrey.
“Sodexo has met everyone’s needs. They’ve brought
real structure to our operations and given our
Food and Nutrition Services people tools to help them
manage their business. We were able to make the
necessary changes very quickly.
“Sodexo is more than a supplier, they are an agent
for rapid change,” adds Heins. “Our patients are
happier now and so are our employees, and we’re
saving money. That pretty much says it all.”
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