As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S., Vidant Medical Center in eastern North Carolina began to prepare for the potential of overcrowding, supply chain interruptions, and overwhelming strain on the staff. To support the patients and staff, Vidant’s dining services team jumped in to adapt their operations.
“Our customer base dropped dramatically almost overnight,” said Troy Sheppard, Food & Nutrition Service Line Administrator and Client Executive with Sodexo, which provides dining operations for Vidant Health system. Increased staffing demands created further challenges, as self-serve food lines were converted to staffed stations and heightened sanitation protocols required more labor time. A shifted focus on quick service dining changed the norm even further.
Changing operations and supporting the staff in a pandemic didn’t mean the Sodexo team would abandon their sustainability commitments. On the contrary, Sodexo has continued rolling out its food waste prevention platform, WasteWatch powered by Leanpath (WWxLP), globally, despite the pandemic. WWxLP has deployed at 732 Sodexo sites, including 188 healthcare sites in the US, nearly all since the onset of COVID-19. More than 1,200 Sodexo kitchens globally are currently in the program.