Diwali Special at the World Cuisine Station at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center

Diwali, the festival of lights which is one the most significant holidays celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains for five days will be celebrated this year on Tuesday, November 10.

During Diwali, the community will visit temples and offer their prayers as well as spending time with friends and family. The preparation for Diwali, however, starts months before the celebration. Diwali snacks such as chivda,a crunchy savory snack (This is one of my favorite snacks. If you are interested to learn how to make it, here is the link to a good step by step recipe  http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/chivda-recipe-poha-chivda-chiwda/ ) and a variety of murukku, a savory crunchy snacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murukku and desserts such as Gulab Jamon (fried dough and milk in sugar syrup), Kheer (South Asian rice pudding), Halwa (flour or nut base dessert with pistachio and almond) and others are prepared a month in advance of the festivity.  Households will also be decorated with lights and Rangooli, a design made from colored rice and powder, usually displayed on the floor. Rangooli is used as a joyful way to welcome the Goddness of Wealth and Prosperity.  New clothes are also usually worn by adults and children alike.  

Growing up in Malaysia, this was one of my favorite holidays. I love the lights, colors, smells of the flowers,  incense in the temples, the food, and of course the beautiful Rangooli! To learn more about Diwali, here is an article from Times of India.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/Traditions-of-Diwali/articleshow/49673561.cms

 At the cafeteria in Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, David Cox, Executive Chef and Ravi Rajkarnikar, cook, prepared a Diwali special at the cafeteria this afternoon at our World Cuisine station in conjunction with the upcoming Diwali celebration.

The menu consists of: Tandoori Chicken, Vegetable Biryani (Basmati Rice cooked with mixed vegetables, cashews and raisins), Gobi Masala (Indian Curry Cauliflower), Naan bread, Vegetable pakora and Gulaab Jamun ( Fried dough and milk in sugar syrup)

The special was a great success! It was sold out!

Thank you Ravi for bringing a taste of Diwali to us!

As I savor every bite of this sumptuous meal, it brings back my childhood memories and the taste of home.

What a wonderful way to celebrate Diwali and introduce diversity at work.

Wishing everyone a Happy Diwali. May the festival of lights bring good health to you and your family!

The Diwali Special 

Ravi serving at the World Cuisine Station

Ravi busy at work preparing the delicious Vegetable Biryani

Left to Right: Chef Dave and Ravi- Thank you!

Beautiful Rangooli display

Usha Patel, our Environmental Services colleagues wearing a traditional Indian dress with Rangooli display during the Sodexo Employee Appreciation Day

Congratulations to the Sodexo Food and Nutrition Team for winning the Area 414 "Developing Our People Award"

Congratulations to the Sodexo Food and Nutrition Team at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center for winning the Sodexo Healthcare Area 414 "Developing Our People" Award. This award is given to account that has showed achievements in developing colleagues.

The department continuously ranks high in employee satisfaction and a number of colleagues were promoted within the department or Sodexo as well as being hired in other departments of the hospital.

The Management team believes in putting our colleague's first. Investing in learning and development plays a very important role in our department. In addition to completing hospital training, colleagues also complete Sodexo training as well as Customer Service training.  Colleagues are cross-trained in all areas of their department. For example, someone hired on the trayline will be cross-trained so they will be able to work at the trayline, cook in the hot and cold kitchen, check the accuracy of the trays, working in the diet office as well as deliver trays to the patient. This way, colleagues will be able to see the "big picture", and see how the team works together. In return it creates teamwork and a more rewarding workplace.

The team also stressed the important of treating our colleagues the way they wanted to be treated. It has to start from within. If there is harmony and teamwork in the back of the house, it will be reflected in our service delivery.

Apart from developing our client's colleagues, the team is also a Sodexo training account. We have trained over forty Sodexo managers from the Northeast region at our account. New Sodexo Managers are provided training and continuous support by the team to ensure successful transition in their new position. The team also supports other Sodexo accounts in the region when needed.

David Cox, Executive Chef, also won the "Culinary Technical Support" award for exhibiting outstanding Food cost control.

Congratulations to the team and Chef Dave! So proud of all of you!

Let's hear from our team on how teamwork contributes to patient satisfaction:

Pictures of the Sodexo Management Team
Left to Right: Douglas Filosa, Cassandra Loh,Linda Clay,Chef David Cox and Brandon Doubrava
Not in picture: David Tupper


We are so proud of our team. Congratulations team for winning the award! Go Team!

Halloween Celebration at the Sodexo account at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center

Remember the times when we were little and loved playing dress up? Do you still have those cute or embarassing pictures of yourself dressing up as Super Heroes, princes and princesses or cute little ducklings or bees?

If you do, then you know what I am talking about :) It's one of the sweetest moments in our life whether it is good or bad.  Oh Ya! Let's not forget about the candy! I read in a recent survey conducted that almost 80% of the candy that children get on Halloween is eaten by an adult. Now looking back, it kind of makes sense as my bags of candies somehow magically dissapeared the day after Halloween. I wonder why I didn't question my parents then? :)

At the Sodexo account at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, we are gearing up for a Halloween celebration that falls this coming Saturday,October 31. Here are a few ways we are celebrating:

Halloween-themed bakery items offered at Jazzman's Cafe & Bakery this week




Shaina, our baker at Jazzman's Cafe & Bakery prepared Halloween-themed cupcakes



Halloween White Chocolate Dipped Apples 

Pumpkins carved for a Hospital function

Omar from the Production team prepared some carved pumpkins and fruits for a hospital catering event this week.


Left to Right: Omar, Silas and Chef Dave

Pumpkin carvings from the Annual Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Pumpkin Carving contest. 

Entries from this year contest



From the General Internal Medicine department

From Kelly Conrad, CT, colleague in Cytology



From Executive Health

From 5 West

From GIM ASC - "The World Ugliest Baby"

From CT Scan Department

From Neurosurgery Department 

From Health Information Management

Happy Halloween everyone!

Healthcare Food Services Worker Week 2015 (October 5-11,2015)

Starting next Monday, October 5 to Sunday, October 11, healthcare workers across the country will be celebrating Healthcare Food Services Worker Week.

At the Sodexo account at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, we have planned a week of fun filled events to celebrate the occasion, and most importantly to thank our colleagues for all their hard work and dedication.

In commemoration of the event, I would like to share some pictures of our colleagues at work throughout the year. They are always here with a smile ready to assist others - rain, shine or snow (sorry for saying this forbidden word). 

Thank you for always putting patients at the heart of everything you do! We appreciate you! 

Happy Food Services Worker Week to all Healthcare Professionals! Thank you for all that you do!

Pictures of Food and Nutrition colleagues at different events

Left to Right: Alexander Wright and Alexander Gracia at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
Employee Appreciation Cookout

Left to Right: Herb, Maria, Ravi, Kevin and George

Left to Right: Taylor, MS, RD and Brandon

Left to Right: Doug, Zofia, Tom, Chef Dave, Omar and Linda at the Morocco table during Sodexo Employee Appreciation Day

Diane and Herb celebrating  Cinco De Mayo at the Cafeteria

Chef Dave with Silas presenting "A taste of Brazil" cuisine at the Cafeteria

Jason, Rich and Ayoub- Service with a Smile at the Cafeteria 

Left to Right: Lanita, Shaina and Lindsay at Jazzman's Cafe

Nassim and Linda at the grill at the Cafeteria (We are never too busy to thank our colleagues for their hard work. Here Linda Clay, Director of Food and Nutrition handing a Kit Kat to all colleagues to thank them for their hard work)

Left to Right- Joan, Maria and Zofia at the Cafeteria

Left to Right Joe and Elise from Jazzman showing their Kit Kats that they received from Linda

Our Registered Dietitians (Left to Right)

Left to Right: Taylor Gillis,MS, RD,  Catherine Fanning, Dietetic Intern, Elaine Lyons,MS, RD,  Allison Herrick,RD, LDN,  Rebecca Bradley,MS,RD,LDN,CDE and Taylor Pierce,MS,RD

Patient Services Team- Ryan, Matt, Laura and Anthoy

Ravi with Chef Dave during the Nepal Diversity Special at the Cafeteria

Pictures of our colleagues that worked during Winter Storm Juno

Sanitation Team- Rudy, Tim, Dan, Steve and Marc.

Our Team- Always ready and provide Service with a Smile



Happy Healthcare Food Services Worker Week 2015!

Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at the Cafeteria at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center (September 15-October 15)

In conjunction with the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration from September 15-October 15, 2015, the Sodexo Food and Nutrition team will feature three Latino cuisine from Peru, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.

With the assistance from Chef David Cox and the production team, the latino cuisine will be served during lunch from 11am-2pm on the following days:

1) Wednesday, September 30-  Betty de la Crus, cook, will be presenting cuisine from Peru
2) Thursday, October 1- Alex Gracia, retail worker will be presenting cuisine from Puerto Rico
3) Friday, October 2- Emi Rizik, Sodexo Operation Manager will be presenting cuisine from Dominican Republic

If you happened to be at  the Burlington campus around the above dates, please stop to speak with our colleagues to learn more about the Latino culture while enjoying sumptuous cuisine.

Here are the menus and biography of our colleagues.

Happy Latino Heritage Month!

How's your Friday so far? Need an inspiration?

Happy Friday everyone!

I guess most people in Boston are taking the day off today as we are having the last hurrah of warm weather(High 81 Fahrenheit today followed by mid seventies tomorrow) before facing the chilly September fall weather next week.

The drive to work was a breeze. A usual one hour journey only took me 40 minutes today and with the warm weather, I know I am starting my Friday right :).

Work has been very productive this morning and one thing leads to another, it's been almost two hours since I arrived at work.

Maria Petkiewich, Food Services worker at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center stopped by at my office with a beautiful smile on her face asking me if I am free? Of course I am. Always have time for Maria :). What happened next blew my mind away. She stopped by as she wanted to show me her family picture which she took 9 years ago when her daughter, the beautiful Dayanara was just a baby. Time passed by so.....fast!  Not sure about you. I always felt like once we hit 21, time flies. Perhaps we didn't see ourselves getting wiser each day but when we see little kids grow up, you can't deny the fact that time flies. So, don't forget to take time to appreciate everything around you.

If you are currently at work, write down the names of five people whom you have not spoken with in the last month or perhaps the names of people whom you should thank. Stop by at their desk, spend two minutes each. It will only takes 10 minutes and trust me, your Friday will be more rewarding.

Have a great weekend everyone! Happy Friday!



Picture of Maria, Bobby and Dayanara taken 9 years ago



Picture of Megan and Tony, children of Debra Francis (Patient Services lead) taken when they were 11 and 5. Now they are 17 and 11

Happy Environmental Services Week!

This year, we celebrate the Environmental Services Week from September 14-18. 

During the Environmental Services Week celebration at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, the management team plan a week of fun filled events to show our appreciation for our colleagues' hard work and dedication throughout the year. 

We celebrated the event with gifts, raffles and lunch.  

Thank you to all colleagues and the Management team that was involved in planning the event. The event was a great success!

To all Environmental Services colleagues everywhere, Thank you for all that you! 

Thank you for making everyday a better day for all those we served.

Happy Environmental Services Week!

Here are pictures from our Environmental Services Week celebration.

Left to Right: Jain, Sonia, Sara and Dilia

Left to Right: Mariano, Jeantilia, Luis and Rick

One of the lunch served during the celebration

A variety of hot food items served during one of the luncheon

A variety of hot food items served during one of the luncheon 

A variety of sandwiches, chips and sodas served during one of the luncheon

John Rota, Director of Environmental Services giving a speech thanking Environmental Services colleagues

Left to Right: Maria Villafuerte, Jain and Sheila

Left to Right: Sara, Dilia, Mariano and Jeantilia with their winning raffles

John reading names of the raffle's winner

Gifts from one of the raffles