Job cuts may follow shift in menu selections

Alberta Health Services is planning to standardize meals at hospitals around the province and in the process, may also  cut staff at Jasper’s Seton General Hospital.

“Jasper’s hospital is very expensive to run,” said Vice-President of Nutrition and Food Services for Alberta Health Services Susan McKay. “We don’t know why. We’re trying to figure it out.”

McKay said across the province, there will be staff changes at hospitals and Jasper’s Seton hospital may be targeted.

The changes are coming about due to a new Alberta Health Services super board plan to standardize food at all of the hospitals in the province. The move essentially means that a tuna casserole at the Jasper Seton General Hospital will now be the same as a tuna casserole served at the Slave Lake General Hospital.

“It will also be a much better tuna casserole,” said McKay.

The new system means that menus at the Jasper hospital and at the Alpine Summit Senior’s Lodge are going to change. By how much remains to be seen as McKay said that information is still being gathered.

Currently, hospitals in Alberta dictate their own meal ingredients to some extent. Each will generally buy different types of peanut butters, tomato sauces or other groceries. Each hospital has to follow certain nutritional guidelines, but how they get there is much less controlled than it will be this spring, when the new standardization is fully rolled out.

The new centralized meal plan means increased product predictability, said McKay, as all the hospitals will follow recipes set by Alberta Health Services.
McKay explained that by standardizing food, the province will buy foods in larger amounts. This will create economies of scale and allow the province to save money.

Alberta Health Services is mandated to follow certain health guidelines, regulating levels such as sodium content. By standardizing products, McKay said that following those guidelines would become much easier. Food preparation will also be standardized.

“It is about more than just saving money,” said McKay, who said that the change is being made due to the health super board’s ongoing review of old policy from the pre-2008 days of the Albertan regional health boards.

Still, that argument is not convincing everyone in Jasper.

“If they would just open their eyes and ears one milionth of a little bit, they would see that they just can’t keep making changes like this,” said Janet Barker, a member of the Jasper Health Advisory Committee. She says that taking away workers from the hospital only means there is going to be more processed foods and less appetizing and healthy meals.

She speculates that the Seton General Hospitals higher costs are due to the high volume of tourists who pass through Jasper to take part in high-risk outdoor activities.

McKay said that the amount of processed, prepared food going to Seton General Hospital would not change significantly. Currently, 80 per cent of the food shipped to Jasper from Edmonton is pre-prepared. The final 20 per cent includes jobs like making sandwiches and salads and generally doing the final prepatory duties to make a meal complete.

As well, the distribution method for the food, which is currently being shipped in from Edmonton, will not change.

“Where the trucks are coming from will not change. Only what is on the trucks,” said McKay.