In honor of National Hospital Week...
By Guest Blogger, Matt Marchbanks, Senior General Manager for Sodexo Health Care Services
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Before I joined Sodexo15 years ago, I was in the hospitality industry working as an Executive Chef and F&B Director. I was fortunate to work for Disney World as an opening chef in MGM studios and multiple restaurants/pavilions in Epcot Center. Have you ever been to Disney World? Everyone is always happy and smiling – even if they are having a bad day. Needless to say, customer satisfaction has always been a top priority of mine.
Some people just aren’t cut out for success in customer service and satisfaction. I personally love the interaction with the customers and the instantaneous feedback,which makes it easy to measure success and experience personal satisfaction for me. The downside: it’s a demanding industry especially when you are raising small children.
So I made the big move to Sodexo in their Health Care Services division for a better quality of life. It didn’t take me long to realize that “I wasn’t in Kansas anymore!” Health Care “customers” (patients) aren’t in the hospital by choice and they certainly aren’t there for the same reasons they go to Disney World.
Soon after starting in Health Care at Sodexo I recognized an opportunity to help the company shift their focus from “the business” to our patients and their families by developing productive relationships. Relationships with the patients, with the doctors, with the nurses, with anyone and everyone who would provide care to our patients. And so, in 2004 when our Chief Nursing Officer approached me about becoming a facilitator of a new patient care delivery system called “Relationship Based Care,” I jumped at the opportunity and I found a new sense of purpose in a complex Health Care environment. The Relationship Based Care model’s goal was to make the patient and family at the center of every action/decision to enhance the healing process and they've achieved this goal. Today, Sodexo Health Care Services helps hospitals nurture a healing environment by implementing programs, systems, and procedures that free a hospital's staff to stay focused on its highest priority of treating patients.
So why would “the Chef” be asked to be asked to be the facilitator of this new Relationship Based Care Model. Because I had passion and because Sodexo invests in their employees by providing us with the tools to make a difference. Our employees have many opportunities to directly and indirectly help care for the patients through our relationships and we recognize that healing is more than treating a disease, an illness, or a condition. Whether it’s through relieving Nursing of non-patient care tasks or taking a moment to visit with a patient while delivering a meal tray, all are instrumental in providing our patients with exceptional care. Teaching my employees how to recognize these opportunities and celebrating the outcomes has been “priceless.”
I found my place in Health Care at Sodexo and I discovered that I could be the change agent I needed to be. It was easy to find my sense of purpose once the patients were at the heart of every decision we make.
Some people just aren’t cut out for success in customer service and satisfaction. I personally love the interaction with the customers and the instantaneous feedback,which makes it easy to measure success and experience personal satisfaction for me. The downside: it’s a demanding industry especially when you are raising small children.
So I made the big move to Sodexo in their Health Care Services division for a better quality of life. It didn’t take me long to realize that “I wasn’t in Kansas anymore!” Health Care “customers” (patients) aren’t in the hospital by choice and they certainly aren’t there for the same reasons they go to Disney World.
Soon after starting in Health Care at Sodexo I recognized an opportunity to help the company shift their focus from “the business” to our patients and their families by developing productive relationships. Relationships with the patients, with the doctors, with the nurses, with anyone and everyone who would provide care to our patients. And so, in 2004 when our Chief Nursing Officer approached me about becoming a facilitator of a new patient care delivery system called “Relationship Based Care,” I jumped at the opportunity and I found a new sense of purpose in a complex Health Care environment. The Relationship Based Care model’s goal was to make the patient and family at the center of every action/decision to enhance the healing process and they've achieved this goal. Today, Sodexo Health Care Services helps hospitals nurture a healing environment by implementing programs, systems, and procedures that free a hospital's staff to stay focused on its highest priority of treating patients.
So why would “the Chef” be asked to be asked to be the facilitator of this new Relationship Based Care Model. Because I had passion and because Sodexo invests in their employees by providing us with the tools to make a difference. Our employees have many opportunities to directly and indirectly help care for the patients through our relationships and we recognize that healing is more than treating a disease, an illness, or a condition. Whether it’s through relieving Nursing of non-patient care tasks or taking a moment to visit with a patient while delivering a meal tray, all are instrumental in providing our patients with exceptional care. Teaching my employees how to recognize these opportunities and celebrating the outcomes has been “priceless.”
I found my place in Health Care at Sodexo and I discovered that I could be the change agent I needed to be. It was easy to find my sense of purpose once the patients were at the heart of every decision we make.
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Matt is the Senior General Manager at Faxton-St. Luke’s Health Care, a multi service account in upstate New York. He is also a member of the HR Task Force and completed the inaugural HIPO GM class last fall. Matt is married and is the proud father of four beautiful children ranging in age from 16 to 1.
Matt is the Senior General Manager at Faxton-St. Luke’s Health Care, a multi service account in upstate New York. He is also a member of the HR Task Force and completed the inaugural HIPO GM class last fall. Matt is married and is the proud father of four beautiful children ranging in age from 16 to 1.
1 comments:
I loved your blog! I think it is great what you are doing and you should share what you do and how you do it with the whole Sodexo world! You truely embrace making every day a better day whenever and whereever employees come together.
Katherine Yonker
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