Director-Food Services

At SageWest Health Care, we are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality, family-friendly care available. SageWest Health Care is located in Fremont County, Wyoming, encompassing two hospitals, one in Riverton and one in Lander. Each offers a wide range of healthcare services, including inpatient medical services, emergency room services, surgical services,  imaging services, laboratory diagnostic services, primary care, infusion services, and women’s health. 

Job Summary

The Director, Food Services is responsible for the overall leadership, planning, and operation of the hospital's Food and Nutrition Services department. This role ensures the delivery of safe, high-quality, and nutritionally appropriate food services for patients, employees, and visitors in compliance with CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards, FDA Food Code, and all applicable federal, state, and local regulations. The Director partners closely with clinical nutrition leadership (Registered Dietitian) to ensure appropriate therapeutic diet compliance, patient satisfaction, fiscal stewardship, and continuous regulatory readiness

Essential Functions

•    Department Leadership & Operations:
•    Participates in planning and creating the hospital’s strategic plan to achieve the mission and vision of the
•    hospital in collaboration with Registered Dietitian.
•    Manages the department by company policies, procedures, standards, and applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
•    Participates in the planning of the department budget.
•    Submits capital budget request to CFO.
•    Accountable for daily managing of department budget through operational expense management and labor management.
•    Manages the department’s financials by maintaining records of department expenditures, daily meal counts, and compiling end of the month financial reports and turn into Administration.
•    Develops department schedule to ensure adequate staff to provide services, but within budgeted FTEs.
•    Purchases and confirms delivery of food, supplies, and equipment from approved vendors to ensure adequate stock levels to perform departmental functions.
•    Inspects arriving shipments, signs invoices/receipts of shipment.
•    Manages the stocking and inventory of current food and supplies following proper storage and labeling procedures.
•    Performs monthly end-of-the-month physical inventories.
•    Participates in the hospital’s Performance Improvement program by conducting, aggregating, trending,
•    and acting on data for key foodservice indicators.
•    Annual QAPI department plan is developed with mandatory components. Monthly reports are taken to the hospital committee as per facility policy.
•    Monitors quality control in kitchen by assuring quality measure are routinely done; spot checking logs frequently for accuracy of data and conducts weekly kitchen safety/sanitation audits
•    Participates in the survey process; instructs staff in matters of conduct and disclosure; maintains a presence at all times while surveyors are on-site and directs the timely collection of information required by the survey team. Undertakes corrective action while survey is in progress, if appropriate; works with other hospital departments to develop survey plan of correction, as needed.
•    Serves on various committees as required by company standards, regulations, and/or appointments by immediate supervisor.
•    Labor Management & Staff Training:
•    Assumes responsibility for recruiting, selecting, and training culinary staff.
•    Completes new hire and annual competency evaluation per company policy on all culinary staff.
•    Prepares and retains work schedules to maintain adequate staffing in the department.
•    Provides department orientation to all new employees.
•    Evaluates employee performance, conducting 90 day and annual reviews in a timely manner.
•    Schedules and/or conducts monthly in-services for culinary staff. Holds routine department meetings.
•    Menu Management:
•    Directs diet clerk or designated employee in the menu management process (preparing menus for distribution to patients, checking electronic medical record prior to each meal for diet order changes, room changes, new admits and discharges, updating patient cardex, printing tray tickets, inputting patient menu selections, etc)
•    Provides production sheets and standardized recipes to staff to ensure proper food preparation.
•    Ensures all patient snack orders are checked against the diet order and provides a production sheet for snack preparation; ensures all snacks are labeled properly and distributed to patients timely.
•    Communicates patients’ concerns or dissa