Reviews

Willow Brook Christian Communities

Willow Brook Christian Village

Bill Lutz is my secret weapon!

Larry Harris, C.E.O.

Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University

Fisher College of Business

Bill brings excitement to the classroom and shows a passion for change in the long-term-care food service environment that is infectious.

It has been my pleasure to work with Bill Lutz over the past few years. He teaches a module in the Core of Knowledge Course, a three-week course for nursing home administrators-in-training. This course has been offered at the College of Business at The Ohio State University for over twenty-five years and is a requirement for licensure as a nursing home administrator in the State of Ohio.

As a program manager for a number of years, I have watched many faculty presentations, but few faculty have brought the enthusiasm and zeal to the classroom as Bill Lutz. Having been a successful owner/operator of several fine-dining establishments in the Columbus area, he has now brought his knowledge and expertise to the healthcare industry.

His presentation effectively communicates how food service at long-term-care facilities can be greatly enhanced by using restaurant-style service along with improved food preparation, individual menu choices, and impressive plate presentations. He uses video, personal examples, and written materials to illustrate how both the quality of residents’ lives can be greatly improved and costs in dietary labor, food, and supplies can be reduced.

Bill brings excitement to the classroom and shows a passion for change in the long-term-care food service environment that is infectious. I look forward to working with him in the future.

Lynne M. Comer, Program Manager

Vermont Health Care Association

VHCA

Your presentations were very well received — fabulous, upbeat, motivating and gets to the point.

Thank you again for the presentations at the Vermont Health Care Association annual conference last month in Killington.

What more could a conference planner ask for? Thank you both for sharing your knowledge with us.

Mary Shriver, Executive Director

Convalarium at Indian Run, Dublin, Ohio

The Convalarium of Dublin

Optimum Solutions & Strategies were very thorough and helpful. After five months, we noticed our residents’ weights stabilized and mealtime became a great time for social interaction.

Linette Wilson, Director of Nursing

Davenport Good Samaritan Center

Davenport Good Samaritan Center

Since inception of the program, our weight losses decreased by 23%.

Three years ago we decided to look critically at our dining program. Resident satisfaction surveys indicated decreasing satisfaction with meal service, including quality of food served and service provided. We developed a committee from various departments throughout the facility, and called it “FISH,” modeled after the now-famous FISH philosophy. Several sub-committees were formed and we took the program as far as we felt we could. Fortunately, when we realized that we had gone as far as we could without professional assistance, we were able to attend a seminar that Bill Lutz of Optimum Solutions presented. We quickly realized that this program was what we needed to move forward.

The implementation of the program was in three stages. During the second stage, in November of 2004, Optimum Solutions’ Chef — “Chef Fred” — arrived to retrain the culinary staff in how to cook foods to order, using the freshest foods available, and cooking everything from scratch (homemade).

The final stage was the implementation. One year after the arrival of Optimum Solutions project managers, we rolled out the program. Working as a team, nursing and dietary now focus on each resident, encouraging choice and providing improved service through a continual process of “cueing and QA-ing.”

As a facility dietician I had hoped for several outcomes: more teamwork in the dining room, decreased weight loss, and more choices for residents. For years, dietary staff would tell nursing they were not able to provide anything other than what was on the menu. Part of that reason was policy, but also because the kitchen was not equipped or staffed to accommodate special requests. Instead of providing more choice, the option would usually be a supplement. Ironically, weight loss continued despite supplement usage.

Since inception of the program, our weight losses decreased by 23%. Specifically, comparing weight losses from the last quarter of 2004 to the same quarter in 2005, we had a 47% decrease in weight losses.

The main reason is the increase in service and the combined cooperation between nursing and dietary. Our residents have definitely benefited. Supplement usage at meals has almost been eliminated. Residents are eating real food that they choose and are being given special items as they ask for them. Dietary and nursing staff have gained respect and appreciation for each other.

Roberta Barrier, Dietician