How does smoked salmon or tofu with fresh mango, tomato, avocado, a side of broccoli, and a salad with shaved red onion, red and white quinoa over mesclun, with honey citrus balsamic vinaigrette and pistachios sound for an entrée? Not quite what you’re hankering for? Perhaps chicken mushroom Marsala, farfalle, and broccoli? Well, those were the two lunch specials patients at the M.V. Hospital, visitors and staff at the cafe, and residents at Windemere had one day last week.
You don’t necessarily think of fabulous food and a bounty of choices coming out of the kitchen of a hospital … but that is exactly the case at the M.V. Hospital.
Over the past year, I’ve visited with three patients who specifically mentioned how excellent the food was. So I went directly to the source, director of food and nutrition Chris Porterfield, to discover more about this phenomenon.
Porterfield has an extensive fine and casual dining background, as well as work in dietary-related healthcare and 23 years at our hospital. But perhaps what makes him the perfect man for the job is his utter passion for working with and serving the community — caring about the people who eat the food from his kitchen.
While I knew the hospital served patients, and has a well-touted and very reasonably priced cafe for visitors and staff, I didn’t realize that it also is responsible for both Windemere and the Meals on Wheels program, so that on any given day, his department is serving between 500 to 600 meals, 365 days a year.
Speaking with Porterfield, I also started to grasp the mammoth and complicated task of designing menus for hundreds of people’s different dietary needs as well as culinary desires.
Every patient gets a menu of enticing choices each morning specific to their dietary needs, which are determined by their physician. This might include a selection geared for diabetics, as well as those on low-sodium, low-fat, sugar-free, or gluten-intolerant food plans, and so forth. They also can accommodate those with dysphagia, where because of issues with swallowing, the consistency of food and liquids needs to be altered. A diet aide checks each meal before sending it to patients, to ensure it correlates to their food needs.
Just a sample of the standardized menu offers a nice variety. Among them are Statler chicken, codfish, steak tips, and salmon, with a choice of glazes that include honey bourbon, teriyaki, or orange ginger. Sides are mashed or baked potato or rice, an assortment of veggies, and chocolate or Boston cream pie, vanilla custard, or Jell-O for dessert.
Porterfield keeps things interesting by mixing and matching the day’s specials into the regular offerings at the hospital cafe, Windemere, and Meals on Wheels. Making things even more challenging to manage, there are sugar-free and fat-free versions of everything, and vegetarian and poultry options, if the item is meat. Just that day, you could have a chicken or vegetarian version of the Philly cheesesteak — with a gluten-free bread option.
Porterfield praises his 18 full-time staff and another 10 or so per diem employees. Some come with a cooking background, and others do not. “It’s a mix. Sometimes, less experienced people are good because they say, ‘Show me what to do,’ and then there are some with great skills who come to me with ideas to try. It’s a good blend.” Over the years, Porterfield has also nurtured novice cooks who weren’t initially confident, then blossomed into chefs.
Most staff are year-rounders, and many have strong ties to the community. Perhaps they have a grandparent in Windemere or a friend who has been a patient in the hospital, or know some of the visitors who frequent the cafe: “They care more about what they do because they are more invested.”
There are a wide variety of positions. There are chefs who make the hot entrées, and one responsible for sandwiches, the salad bar, baked goods, and cold items such as salads, Jell-Oo, and custards. There is a nutritional care coordinator who goes into the patient’s room with the menu, and can help them make selections. Diet aides check the meals for Windemere residents and patients, and kitchen aides are responsible for the all-important job of cleaning. And there are cashiers and servers for the cafe.
Porterfield is originally from Santa Fe, N.M. He moved here 25 years ago with his wife, who is from the Island: “I’m invested in this community. You care and know about people. That’s why I do what I do.
“We care very much about what we do, and we’re getting even better. We’re looking to grow,” Porterfield shares. About the cafe, he wants the community to feel comfortable coming and having a good meal. ”In the winter, many places close, but you can always get an affordable lunch here. We want to take care of you, too.”
For the public, the hospital cafe serves breakfast from 6:45 to 10:45 am, lunch from 11 am to 2 pm, and refreshments and grab-and-go from 2 to 3 pm.
Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is located at 1 Hospital Road in Oak Bluffs. mvhospital.org.
