By Healthcare Facilities Today

South Central Kansas Medical Center is partnering with Hospital Housekeeping Services (HHS) and Culinary Nutrition Solutions (CNS), a division of HHS, to enhance the hospital’s current nutritional and environmental services departments with custom programs.

HHS has been providing housekeeping and linen management services to the health care industry for more than 38 years. According to HHS representatives, the company expanded in 2010 to include CNS, “a division dedicated to providing a food service program of the highest caliber, both in nutrition and service.”

“We are very excited about this partnership,” said Clayton Pappan, SCKMC’s chief marketing officer and senior administrator for the medical center’s environmental services departments. “While the HHS and CNS programs do not directly include our clinical staff or our patients’ medical treatment, we believe the services they are able to provide will significantly improve the patient’s overall stay as well as improve the comfort of their guests.”

HHS/CNS has partnered with dozens of hospitals across the nation ranging in size and scope from rural critical access hospitals to urban 500+ bed medical centers. Their hospitality programs have a proven track record, directly impacting customer satisfaction scores. The average HHS Partner improved their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores by 7 percent in year one and 14.2 percent over four years. HCAHPS is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s patient satisfaction program, upon which hospital reimbursements are incentivised.

“The structure and expertise that HHS brings to our organization will enhance service to our patients. In our interviews with numerous other HHS clients we consistently heard of significant increased satisfaction from their patients and families, as well as hospital staff members. The expectations of these clients were often exceeded in terms of results,” said Steve Perkins, SCKMC’s chief executive officer.

HHS/CNS will begin the transition on Jan. 1 by absorbing all current SCKMC housekeeping, laundry, and dietary staff members, with the exception of SCKMC’s registered dietitian, Diane Ray. Ray works as an independent contractor and will continue to provide clinical nutritional services through the hospital.

The total transition of all duties and responsibilities to HHS/CNS is estimated to take up to 90 days. During that time staff will be engaged in multiple training programs including hospitality, safety, and procedures. In addition, patient and cafeteria menus will be updated to include expanded meal options, and a new “exhibition table” will be installed within the cafeteria. CNS’s professionally trained chef will use this piece of equipment to regularly showcase meal preparation for staff and guests.

A kickoff meeting between all current SCKMC dietary and environmental staff and CNS Vice President of Operations Dirk Noteboom took place on Wednesday. Noteboom, along with members of the SCKMC administrative team, will be meeting with each of the staff individually over the remainder of the week to discuss the transition.

Perkins believes the one-on-one time with each staff member will help relieve some of the anxiety associated with the transition.

“We fully appreciate that this is a change and that change is often disliked. If we did not believe this was in the best interest of patient care and service, and our organization, we would not have partnered with this group,” Perkins said.

All staff will be offered employment at their current rate of pay, be able to transfer accrued paid time off (PDO), and are eligible to participate in HHS/CNS’s benefit package which includes a departmental bonus program, 401K plan, and health and dental insurance.