Joseph Hill prepares a meal for a family affiliated with Sampson Regional Medical Center.
Chase Jordan | Sampson Independent
As a chef, Joseph Hill loves preparing meals for staff and patients in the kitchen at Sampson Regional Medical Center.
“It’s a really warm feeling,” said Hill, director of food and nutrition services for SampsonRMC. “The way to the heart leads through a person’s stomach.”
This week, Hill and his staff are working hard to fill bellies with chicken parmesan, green beans, and garlic herbs. Free family meals will be prepared for all employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hill is leading the way to show appreciation. For SampsonRMC leaders, this is a way of saying thank you and providing staff with the convenience of a pre-prepared dinner for their families who have sacrificed much to serve the patients.
“I think that’s really important when it comes to raising the mood,” said Hill. “I think we are all tired of COVID and tired of it. Anything we can do to lift the spirits of the hospital staff is a huge plus. “
As a token of appreciation, the gesture began during the holiday season to make life a little easier for the employees. The hospital administration organized meals for everyone. Officials said the dinners were so well received that it became an ongoing program every month.
“Sampson Regional is honored to give back to our team members by providing warm, freshly cooked family meals,” said Allison Strickland, marketing and community relations coordinator. “Last year was difficult in many ways. We hope that we can make life a little less stressful for our team in a small way.”
This week is the third round of free meals. In December, the first was a fried chicken dinner with ingredients, followed by Chicken Alfredo in January. After the week of February 22nd, employees are looking forward to the fourth distribution in March.
Each package feeds a family of four. However, if they need more, reservations are accepted. 380 people were served on the first day. The preparation of the staff took about 30 days. Menu and registration information will be posted in the staff cafeteria. After ordering online, the hospital offers several options for pick-up times. For employees who work overnight, chilled meals are available with instructions on how to heat the food using an oven and microwave, which takes about 40 minutes.
“We assume that we can all feed in the hospital. So basically we want to prepare 500 meals,” said Hill of ordering food 48 hours in advance. “You can count on five eight-hour days to make everything work.”
Hill and his colleagues enjoy what they do. Working in the hospital is a plus when it comes to caring for patients and providing nutritious meals. Volunteers also take meals to employees who are unable to work.
“We know we’re giving them a balanced, healthy meal,” he said. “We go as far as to make sure we feed people who are FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act).”
After the pandemic began, the public was no longer allowed to visit the cafeteria for security reasons. This gave them a little more time to focus on the appreciation efforts.
“Since we lost our outside foot traffic, we have a reason to just shine a little brighter,” said Hill. “We are still closed to visitors. We had a lot of community people who ate here and were not guests of the hospital. They would just come in and eat. “
Almost 10 employees are required to run the kitchen every day, but three additional employees make it possible for the appreciation dinners. The work will be completed in phases.
“It’s a team effort and requires a lot of organization, but it’s worth the time,” said Hill of the various departments coming together. “As far as we know, we will be doing this at least once a month as long as the pandemic continues in this direction.”
Chef Johnny Faison is one of many people who put smiles on their faces in an unprecedented time in hospital history.
“I think it’s good that we can do this for the people who are actually in need,” Faison said of SampsonRMC people who work long hours. “We hope that we can do even better in the future.”
Contact Chase Jordan at 910-592-8137. Follow us on Twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
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