Healthy living needs a good diet

PHOTO | CHRIS MWITI: KNH OTHAYA Kitchen staff being trained on the newly installed kitchen equipment.

By Chris Mwiti

The newly constructed kitchen at KNH Othaya will be a major gamechanger in the provision of balanced diet to staff and patients.

The hospital initially had a kitchen whose equipment was capable of preparing meals for 150 people.

However, an increase in the number of both staff and patients when the hospital became operational stretched the facility, hence the need for a much bigger and better equipped facility.

The challenges experienced by catering staff have now been effectively managed by the modernized unit.

“We were not in a position to cope with the demand in the hospital but with the new facility, the smooth and expedited flow of catering services in the hospital is assured,” noted Mr. Kasina Kelvin, a chef at the KNH -Othaya Catering Unit.

The new facility is fully equipped with commercial ovens, cold rooms, numerous gas banners, gas boilers, a diet kitchen for patients on diet, a staff cafeteria designed to make the unit self-reliant.

“Proper and timely nutrition is vital in the patients’ recovery journey. We now can individualize the care of our patients and serve them to the already established standards of Kenyatta National Hospital,” opines Ms. Eveline, Catering Manager.

“KNH-Othaya has a bed capacity of over 350 beds. We have to feed all our patients with a proper diet and quality food. Many patients follow a diet during their treatment process, malnutrition patients often have higher complication rates, low treatment response, which results in longer hospital stay and higher expenses,” she adds.

Miss Eveline says that the hospital catering services play a very crucial role in providing a suitable diet for patients who are hospitalized for a long or short period.

A lot of factors are kept in mind while providing meals to the hospital and patients. Maximum attention is given to preparing food that is tasty, safe, and nutritional in a hygienic manner.

The hospital catering offers a wide array of nutritious and delicious meals from different cultures according to the dietary needs and tastes of the patients which will help them recover quickly since the meals are freshly prepared by professional chefs.

Once the food is prepared, highly trained staff deliver the food to the respective patients effectively and on time as meal time cannot be compromised or delayed.

Some of the diet plans that hospital catering services cater for hospitals are as follows: High-calories high protein diet, renal diet, cardiac diet, diabetic food, liver-friendly diet, etc.

Miss Eveline says KNH Othaya catering staff are grateful to the management for providing them with a fully equipped kitchen.

We are now able to provide a world-class patient-centered specialized care hospital in the Mount Kenya region.” she concluded.