St. Joseph Hospital West Cafeteria

The cafeteria at St. Joseph Hospital West is located on the First Floor and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Room Service Available at SSM St. Joseph Hospital West 

SSM St. Joseph Hospital West is the first hospital in the eastern Missouri area to offer At Your Request Room Service Dining^TM to all inpatients. By dialing a four-digit number from any hospital phone, patients are able to order from a menu that features a wide array of breakfast, lunch and dinner choices. 

“This totally changes everything we’ve done,” said Sandra Holtmeyer, MS, RD, LD, food service general manager at St. Joseph Hospital West. “Now, you get what you want, when you want it. Traditionally, patients made their menu selections in advance with meals served at set times. With At Your Request Room Service Dining^TM, they can wait until they’re hungry to order, or ask for specific delivery times.” 

Trained staff members take orders by telephone. A state-of-the-art computer program assists them in ensuring that selections meet any prescribed dietary guidelines a patient may have. Items are then freshly prepared on site and delivered to the patient’s room within 45 minutes. Meals can be ordered from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Families and visitors of patients also can order meals through room service.

The hospital’s clinical dietitians are available to discuss nutritional or dietary concerns. “Patients on any diet can order room service,” Holtmeyer said. “It gives us a good opportunity to educate them about food choices they can have on a special diet. This is real-time education.”

At Your Request Room Service Dining^TM  also promotes faster recovery times – sick patients tend to eat better when they can choose the foods they want, and are able to eat when they feel like it. “It provides them with a sense of comfort and control in an environment where they typically feel they have little control,” Holtmeyer said.Specialty dishes include everything from oven-roasted turkey with stuffing and all the trimmings, to country-fried steak to beef, chicken or vegetable stir-fry. Hot soups, deli sandwiches, oven-baked pizza and a variety of freshly made salads are among the lunch and dinner selections. 

“We didn’t do this to try to cut costs or save time. We did this to meet our number one goal – to improve patient satisfaction by providing exceptional health care services,” said Pat Komoroski, RN, PhD, chief operating officer at St. Joseph Hospital West. 

A task force comprised of nurses, physicians, dietitians and emergency department staff reviewed the meal process prior to the January 2004 conversion. “I like it because patients love it and the food is fresher,” Komoroski said. “Nurses and physicians love it because it accommodates patients’ treatment schedules, and family members like it because the computer system ensures each patient receives the proper nutrition.”

At Your Request Room Service Dining^TM is a proprietary program of Sodexho, which provides food and nutrition services for SSM St. Joseph Hospital West.