April 2000 -Reprinted with permission of Foodservice Director

Health Center Testing New Food-Cost/Nutrition Software

Brandon Regional Health Center, a 328-bed hospital in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, is pioneering a new Windows-based hospitality software product.

The product, Computrition's Foodservice Operations Management (FOM) package, is an updated version of the software provider's established text-based food cost management and nutritional analysis program. It represents one of several efficiency measures currently under consideration at Brandon, notes Kristi Chorney, RD, manager, production and clinical services.

Major cutbacks: "We have gone through major cutbacks in the last several years, and have to be as lean as possible." This facility is part of the Brandon Regional Health Authority in Canada's government-run network of hospitals, and the new program - which replaces one that is outdated - could be rolled out to other facilities, Chorney further notes: "We can see offering it to other regions to the south and north."

Brandon is also considering centralization of production functions, which could be feasible as part of an upcoming $110-million redevelopment project. "We will re-evaluate our system of foodservice delivery as part of the process," Chorney explains.

The new software package is enabling printout of total quantities needed for next-day production and tray-line tickets. It also enable menu planning, recipe management and nutritional analysis, as well as meal cost analysis, inventory control and purchasing efficiencies.