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On October 31, the University of Pennsylvania Hospital (Pennsylvania School of Medicine) debuted its new building, a 17-story, 1.5 million square-foot building with 504 patient rooms, 47 operating rooms, and a strong focus on the most advanced technology. And patient experience. In order to support patients' dining experience, the hospital ambassador assigned to each room accepts personalized meal orders from the menu, which contains more than two dozen national standardized therapeutic diets.
The patient catering service is managed by AVI Foodsystems, a top FM 50 contract company, which also manages the catering at Penn Medicine’s main hospital and the new Green Family Commons multi-stop retail catering establishment on the first floor of Pavilion.
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In addition to Green Commons, Pavilion will also host two other retail stores, scheduled to open early next year, both from well-known developers. One of them will be the fast-casual Root & Sprig Café concept by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, which debuted earlier this year at the Children's National Research and Innovation Park in Washington, DC. Designed specifically for the healthcare environment, it will provide sandwiches, salads, soups and breakfast menus, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free products.
The other is Bower Café from the well-known local concept developer Thane Wright, which will provide premium coffee beverages and a variety of pastries and sandwiches focusing on natural ingredients.
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The fruit and yogurt bar of AVI Foodsystems Green Family Commons offers smoothies made from fresh fruits, and wheatgrass will soon be grown in the hydroponic cabinet located in the adjacent salad bar area.
Green Family Commons’ fruit and yogurt bar offers smoothies made from fresh fruits, and wheatgrass will soon be grown in the hydroponic cabinet located in the adjacent salad bar area.
Enjoy extraordinary cuisine in the House of Commons
At the same time, the Green Commons menu is based on the platinum standards of good food and healthy hospitals, which means that it includes a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, unprocessed meats and freshly made dishes, as well as the promise of waste reduction seen so far. By using a pair of on-site biological digestion devices, approximately 3,500 pounds of waste are transferred from the landfill every day.
"Our approach is to bring fresh, healthy food to our customers, employees and visitors," said Anthony Avalon, resident director of AVI, Pennsylvania Medical Company.
Jeff McClure, Vice President of Culinary Services at AVI, added: “When we think of the “Gourmet, Healthy Hospital” initiative, one of the things we are really proud of is that we have received the Platinum Standard from day one, noting that He understands that AVI's Pavilion operation is the first company ever to obtain the certification immediately.
"For example, we adopted a method to reduce meat purchases and put more emphasis on plant-based health foods," McClure suggested. One example he cited was a recently launched dish that featured roasted sweet potatoes with arugula and other vegetables, cranberries and shredded apples, topped with a piece of roasted chicken and healthy condiments. “So 60-70% of the plate is vegetable and The rest of the lean protein."
Green Commons sites include Americana, which is a comfort food concept developed by AVI that emphasizes local ingredients and healthy recipe methods that minimize fat, sugar, and sodium, and contain no trans fats. McClure pointed out that although this concept predates the opening of Green Commons, Americana has already customized it based on regional products and recipes from the Pennsylvania Medical Center. He cited a recent "smoked" dish, featuring lean smoked ribs and smoked kale, served with fresh salad and selected fresh vegetables.
In order to produce the various dishes on the menu, Americana station uses a variety of production equipment, such as combination and convection ovens and cigarette boxes.
"The equipment is forward-designed, so we can cook a lot of things in front of our guests," McClure added.
The high-end equipment extends to other sites, such as the pizza station, whose stone pizza oven can produce high-quality, personal-sized pies.
There is also Fusion, a station that offers international dishes, such as the recent Middle Eastern creation, which combines falafel and quinoa with fresh toasted pita bread, pickled vegetables, hummus and tzatziki sauce. In the daily food rotation plan at the station, the Indian chicken tikka masala with basmati rice, naan, chickpeas and chate salad is followed closely behind. Breakfast is also served at Fusion Station, including omelettes, French toast, pancakes and other traditional morning delicacies, before reverting to a lunch menu at noon.
Other branches of Green Commons include a Dietz & Watson brand deli that offers four daily specialty sandwiches, grills, a fruit/yogurt bar for smoothies, a salad bar for main course salads, and a full set of available for creating custom combinations s component. The salad bar area includes a hydroponic cabinet, growing herbs to top menu items (soon, wheatgrass is used for smoothies), and a concept called Roots, plant-based items.
"It is surprising that it is so popular in many communities," said Avalone. "Basically, everyone at Green Commons can enjoy a healthy diet," he added. "People like barbecue, they like comfort food, they can also go to Fusion to enjoy authentic global cuisine, or they can go to the salad bar and really focus on plant-based foods with some roasted protein."
Currently, due to COVID concerns, the salad and yogurt bars are served by employees, but the program will eventually be self-service as circumstances and agency/government policies allow, Avalone said, noting that “we have begun to obtain approval to open some At the station, we have started with coffee and soup, and then a salad bar."
Among the local suppliers' products provided by Green Commons, Simply Good salad jars are ready-to-use salads packaged in jars that can be recycled. Thanks to the seal on the jar, the shelf life of the salad has been extended by 14 days, alleviating the problem of replenishment. In addition, there is a series of homemade ready-to-eat salads, sandwiches and other dishes.
“Anytime we can include local businesses that help support the community, that’s everything,” Avone said, adding that AVI is making a special effort to ally with women and minority businesses in the region as a supplier, if they are Restaurant, as a pop-up concept in cafes.
It is worth noting that Green Commons operates almost around the clock, from 6:30 in the morning (7 in the morning on weekends) to 3 in the morning, so that employees in the evening and overnight can enjoy high-quality food and beverages. Pizza, barbecue, salad bar, and takeaway stations are still open, but the choices have been reduced.
AVI Foodsystems AVI Foodsystems operates the Green Family Commons multi-stop dining venue in Penn Medicine's new Pavilion facility.
AVI Foodsystems operates the Green Family Commons multi-stop dining venue in Penn Medicine's new Pavilion facility.
In terms of patient meals, AVI provides bedside ordering services through dedicated ambassadors before each meal. This service is in line with Penn Medicine’s approach in Pavilion, where the patient’s room is equipped with the latest technical assistance equipment and services. These include the IRIS smart TV located at the foot of each bed, which not only provides entertainment functions, but also controls lighting, room temperature and privacy glass. It also acts as a digital whiteboard to display important patient information such as daily care plans and the name of the patient care team/ Photo.
In terms of meal service, “The ambassador walks into the room like a waiter or waitress, and gets an order after discussing options based on the patient’s personal diet,” Avalone explained. The ambassadors use tablets to transfer orders directly to the kitchen, where they are prepared and assembled, and then sent to the floor. The ambassadors provide services and interact with patients again.
"This is an exciting system because it is a real-time ordering process, and it takes us half an hour before we put the items together and send them directly to [patients]," Avalone points out. "Our entire guest program, our ambassador program, is all about the number of times we contacted that patient."
He added that this includes not only receiving and delivering menus three times a day, but also visits between the trolleys providing coffee and snacks, "so the ambassador interacts with customers as much as possible."
The ambassador is “actually an extension of the nursing team, even if they are part of the food service team,” Avalon suggested. "They have been adopted by the floor and continue to get great feedback on their customer service and how they handle customers."
Like retail catering menus, patient menus are also full of fresh local ingredients, most of which are dishes from scratch.
"For example, we don't use any frozen vegetables-they are all fresh-and all the soups and ingredients are made from scratch," McClure explained. "Food preparation is like in a restaurant. Everything is cooked to order, served on a plate and delivered directly to the patient's room."
McClure added that not only are all of these freshly made in a good restaurant, but the choices are also in line with the restaurant’s quality. Daily lunch and dinner specials change with the seasons, complementing the “always available” menu selection of traditional cuisines. It will make regular adjustments based on popularity and feedback from ambassadors. Salmon and chicken pies are particularly popular, and everything is placed on porcelain for the best presentation.
"In the hospital, how many times have you eaten a beautiful braised pork ribs on parsnip polenta, coated with homemade semi-glaze and seasoned with broccoli rabe, this is one of our best-selling products?" McClure was in high spirits. "Our overall concept is to bring a restaurant experience, allowing patients to forget the hospitalization experience within half an hour and enjoy a good meal."
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