Four years after the first announcement and after ten extensions of the expired contract, the regional health coordination agency has launched the tender that will transform hospital catering services in all health facilities in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The Region aims to introduce a centralized kitchen system in Palmanova, which will replace the delivery from Veneto of food for patients and employees. The assignment will have a duration of six years: the starting point is worth 317 million (about 45 per year), which will be followed by the reduction of the companies concerned, who have already met with the top management of Arcs to be informed on specifications and implementation methods .
Arcs has decided to continue applying the cook & chill method and indeed to extend its application: the meals will be prepared in Palmanova, blast chilled, stored in a controlled atmosphere, transported to their destination and heated in the individual structures, which will also be responsible for the preparation of some bring to cook at the moment.
The tender involves the identification of a single winner. At the beginning, Arcs had imagined a lot for the centralized kitchen and a series of assignments for the satellite centers, but it was then opted for a single lot in order to have a single manager who had to guarantee quality standards and organization.
The comparison will, as always, be between the large collective catering companies, which will start from a base of 317 million for 72 months. The winner will be the one who presents the best offer, with an evaluation based on 80% on quality and 20% on the economic offer.
The approximately 10,000 meals a day for patients and employees will be cooked in Palmanova on behalf of the three regional health authorities, Burlo, Cro di Aviano and Arcs itself. The specifications are based on the cook & chill model, with express preparations limited to cooking pasta or grilled steaks.
Today, several structures still work entirely with the so-called fresh-hot espresso system, which can be a completely alternative or complementary to cook & chill and which many nutritionists consider better on a nutritional level, although it involves a more complex organizational management.
The fulcrum of the new system will be the single cooking center of Jalmicco in Palmanova (1,500 square meters of kitchen and another thousand of warehouses), close to the motorway junction and central to the regional territory. From here, the food will go to the satellite kitchens, which will heat it, provide a series of realizations on the spot, pack the trays according to the nutritional needs of the patients and distribute them.
The hope is that the service will improve the nutritional and organoleptic properties of food, which has been the subject of negative analyzes in recent years.
The new service will employ about 300 people, including cooks, packaging and canteen workers, drivers, cleaners, warehouse workers, butchers, dieticians and employees, divided between Palmanova and the local realities. To implement the new working method, the contract includes renovation works for a dozen million: the most important intervention will be at the Jalmicco site.
In the tender documentation, ARCS starts from the assumption that catering is “an integral part of the therapy” and justifies the generalized adoption of cook & chill with the need to “offer a service characterized by an excellent quality level, in terms of health and nutrition, and satisfaction with the meal “.
The will is to implement a service that has identical standards throughout the region and guarantees savings thanks to a single contract and the possibility of rationalizing work and waste, freeing the preparation of food from consumption.
The single cooking center will be responsible for the procurement of raw materials and the preparation, which will be followed by the blast chilling and delivery of refrigerated foods to the satellite centers, which will proceed with the storage and regeneration of the preparations.
Everything will then be distributed to patients and employee canteens. For the Asugi area, the satellite centers will be in Cattinara and Monfalcone, which will also house the staff canteens. The latter will also be available at Maggiore, Burlo, via del Farneto in Trieste, via Fatebenefratelli and via Veneto in Gorizia and Cormons.
The service provides coverage for all hospitalizations under the umbrella of the Healthcare Company, including health care and home assistance: for all, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are provided on the basis of reservations sent the previous day. The health authorities reserve the right to take samples from the trays to conduct laboratory tests aimed at ascertaining the qualitative conformity of the products. –