BayCare Food and Nutrition Teams Serve Special Meals This Holiday Season

Throughout BayCare, thousands of team members have enjoyed a special meal – brunch, lunch or dinner – as a part of the many events held during the holiday season. At most of the hospitals, the Food and Nutrition teams prepared feasts featuring mouth-watering offerings like prime rib, shrimp and lobster macaroni and cheese, and Cornish game hen.  

Some team members even spent the night at the hospitals to make sure that everything would be ready for the big day. 

“We served 2,100 meals during our two brunches,” said Justin Coles, St. Anthony’s Hospital’s food and nutrition manager. “And we did all of this while still preparing meals for our patients. You really could say that this was our Super Bowl.” 

Indeed, the food was super, in abundance and delicious. The more than 800 food and nutrition team members throughout BayCare prepared hundreds of pounds of shrimp, prime rib, bacon, sausage, salad, green beans and other tasty delights.  

For example, what does it take to feed 354 team members at Bartow Regional Medical Center? Not much – just 90 pounds of prime rib, 70 pounds of Cornish game hen, 56 pounds of macaroni and cheese, 80 pounds of mashed potatoes, 50 pounds of fresh green beans, 60 pounds of corn pudding, 80 pounds of shrimp cocktail and 45 pounds of stuffing.  

That doesn’t include the assorted cheeses, fruit, grapes, dip, salad, eggnog and other goodies that were served.  

“Food and Nutrition Services has always had the pleasure of helping to recognize the fellow team members they work with every day. By providing a holiday celebration meal, we are able to show off a little and celebrate a lot with our co-workers,” said JJ Layton, food and nutrition services manager at St. Joseph's Hospital. “This is all done in conjunction with our everyday tasks of feeding nutritious meals to our patients and visitors alike. This is no small feat, but a welcome challenge to help bring some holiday spirit in a festive time of year.” 

For the hospitals in Pinellas County and one in Pasco County – Mease Countryside Hospital, Mease Dunedin Hospital, Morton Plant Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital and St. Anthony’s Hospital – the food and nutrition teams prepared a special brunch featuring the same menu. The numbers for three of the dishes that were prepared are staggering, including: 

• Salmon: 1,660 pounds
• Shrimp: 940 pounds
• Waffles: 4,443 individual pieces 

The teams worked a combined 1,009 hours to bring the meals to their fellow team members, said Niki Grossi, food and nutrition director for Morton Plant Mease, St. Anthony’s, Winter Haven and Winter Haven Women’s hospitals.

“Last year, all of the Morton Plant Mease sites had brunch. St. Anthony’s was still staffing challenged so they had the meal catered,” Grossi said. “Realizing how successful the meal was at Morton Plant Hospital, we adopted the same meal this year at St. Anthony’s Hospital.” 

Grossi said there are still staffing challenges in her region, especially at Morton Plant Hospital. “Pulling off this meal is a huge undertaking. Over the years we have tried to reduce the burden by partnering with catering companies,” she said. “However, my team has great pride in the work that they do, and they would rather absorb the stress and work closely with their regional sisters and brothers to create a beautiful event. It takes a village!” 

The hospitals in Hillsborough County served up quite a few delicacies for team members. At South Florida Baptist Hospital, which had a milestone year moving to a new location, the food and nutrition team members did what they are well known for in the community – they prepared an amazing meal. Team members worked 120 hours making delicacies including 360 pounds of prime rib, 280 pounds of cocktail shrimp, 200 pounds of sliced ham, 240 pounds of cranberry almond chicken, 140 pounds of mashed potatoes and 120 pounds of carrots.  

St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital served up a combined 200 pounds of shrimp, 100 pounds of pasta and 80 pounds of lobster in a special macaroni and cheese dish, and more than 10,000 donut holes. Team members worked 100 hours to prepare the meal and another 112 hours serving the 1,800 meals. St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital also had the special shrimp and lobster macaroni and cheese, along with roasted chicken thighs, chicken and waffle skewers and a sweet donut bar in its breakfast and savory offerings.  

St. Joseph’s Hospital-South served 800 team member meals featuring 273 pounds of prime rib, 100 pounds of Brussels sprouts, 100 pounds of shrimp; and 250 pounds of mashed potatoes. Team members also enjoyed shrimp and grits, strawberry cheesecake pancakes, stuffed French toast, and eggnog whipped cream. The food and nutrition team worked 128 hours and served up 800 team member meals. With more than 20 items on the menu, it was indeed a gift. 

BayCare team members at a handful of hospitals and locations were treated to catered meals.  

The west region brunch received an “overwhelmingly positive” reaction from team members, Grossi said. Leadership and food and nutrition team members served up 7,159 meals. “My team met after the events and we have plans to expand the concept to Winter Haven and Winter Haven Women’s hospitals next year,” she said. 

BayCare offers a full range of services in West Central Florida for common and complex health needs. Learn more about BayCare's 16 hospitals and our specialties and treatments.