[Times photo: James Borchuck]
Xavier Frazier, 11, of St. Petersburg, chose a chicken sandwich, fries, peaches and Sprite for his lunch Wednesday at All Children's Hospital. The room service program encourages heartier patient appetites, nutritionists say.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 1, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- A few days ago, Miranda Webb had just two words for the food at All Children's Hospital: "It stank."

Recently diagnosed with leukemia, the 15-year-old Countryside High School freshman had trouble working up an appetite when she was first admitted for chemotherapy more than two weeks ago.

"When you're on chemo, you're really sensitive to smell," said Webb, of Palm Harbor. "If you ordered chicken fingers, you could smell it coming down the hall. And if there was broccoli sitting on the tray next to it, you'd just say, "I don't want it' and push it away."

All that changed Tuesday, after the 216-bed children's medical center jettisoned the trays of soggy vegetables and gray blobs of meat that have been the hallmark of hospital fare. No more ordering meals 24 hours in advance from the cafeteria. Now young patients phone in orders for what they want, when they want it, up until 11 p.m., silencing for good the rumble of carts tuned to a rigid schedule.

"It's like a hotel with I.V.s," Webb said.

The best part? The menu includes chicken fingers, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and french fries.

All Children's "room service" menu still includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, but hospital nutritionists say it's designed to get picky young patients more of the healing nourishment they need.

Sodexho, the company in charge of All Children's new program, first implemented the idea five years ago at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Sodexho says the All Children's program is the first it has set up in the bay area. Across the country, 160 hospitals use the room service program, including 10 children's hospitals, Sodexho officials said.

All Children's director of nutrition Pat Hare said many patients suffer from poor appetites and irregular eating schedules. The new program aims to get kids to eat more and heal faster by beefing up kid-friendly choices on the menu, she said.

"When you look at the big picture, kids are getting what they want. Kids are eating and getting nourishment," Hare said. "They're getting better faster and are discharged earlier."

That, says Cindy Rutan, All Children's manager of patient care and food services, saves the hospital money. All Children's staff threw away an average of 35 trays of food a day under the old system, Rutan said. The program's flexibility is designed to eliminate waste and cut down recovery time.

All Children's spent more than $100,000 to refit the kitchen with a charbroiler, extra deep fryers and a milkshake machine. Rutan said she also hired five new staff members, including two cooks and Spanish-speaking order takers.

Jan Hangen, a clinical nutritionist with Children's Hospital of Boston where a similar program was introduced five years ago, said the benefits to young patients are physical and psychological.

"Food is so important for the spirit," Hangen said. "Everything else is controlled for them. Visiting hours are controlled. Visits from friends are controlled. It's almost like a placebo effect. If you can give them what they want to eat, that gives them a little more will to keep going."

Xavier Frazier, 11, definitely feels the positive effects. After having his hip pinned at All Children's, it wasn't as easy for the St. Petersburg sixth-grader to get around. "It's better than getting up to get food at the cafeteria," he said of the new room service plan.

Xavier's aunt, Aleisha Ervin, 32, said she also liked the fact that parents and adult visitors could buy meal tickets and eat with their kids in their rooms.

"And I think it's good because all children don't get hungry at 7 o'clock, 12 o'clock and 5 o'clock. And there's a lot of variety, too," Ervin said.

Across the bay at Tampa Children's Hospital at St. Joseph's, there's plenty of variety, but patients have to tick off their choices on a form in advance. Food can be ordered from one of the hospital's three cafeterias at set times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Popular items like chicken fingers and lasagna were recently added to a revamped menu, said Kindra Murphy, a clinical pediatric dietitian at Tampa Children's.

Snacks such as yogurt and fruit usually are available during the day, Murphy said. But unlike the All Children's food plan, the meal schedule is fixed and the kitchen closes at 7 p.m.

Back at All Children's it's a little past noon and after a few dozen video games, Xavier has worked up a serious appetite. Barely tearing his eyes from the game screen, he reached casually for the phone at his bedside and dialed 3663 or F-O-O-D.

At the other end line and three floors down, an operator input into a large colorful touch screen Xavier's order of a chicken sandwich with a side of fries. A short order cook in a tall white chef's hat pushed the tray toward a staff dietitian who checked to make sure it met the patient's dietary requirements. A half-hour later, the food arrived on a magnetized plate designed to keep food hot and fresh for up to an hour.

"I like it," Xavier said, "because you can get anything you want."

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