Policies

SCOPE / PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for the arrangement of food service and personnel provided for approved meetings and special events. It includes events catered by the Department of Food and Nutrition Services (Internal Caterer-Morrison) or a Novant Health approved External Caterer.

III. QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

Novant Health team members who are responsible for submitting a catering request.

Novant Health Leaders responsible for approving catering requests.

IV. EQUIPMENT

N/A

V. PROCEDURE

The procedure serves as a guideline to assist personnel in accomplishing the goals of the policy. While following these procedural guidelines personnel are expected to exercise judgment within their scope of practice and/or job responsibilities.

A. Criteria for Catering an Event

1. There will be 8 or more attendees at the meeting/event

2. The meeting or event will take place during a normal meal time

Breakfast: 6 am – 7:30 am

Lunch: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Dinner: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

3. The length or location of the meeting/event would prohibit the attendees from obtaining their own meal before or after attending.

Additional considerations include:

1. When the meeting/event crosses over multiple meal times, only one meal should be provided.

2. For an all-day meeting/event please consider including sufficient break time for attendees to eat on their own when planning the agenda.

3. Schedule meeting/event to begin or end at a time that will not interfere with attendee meals.

4. When holding lunch hour meetings, consider having attendees bring their meal with them.

5. Final attendee/head count should be confirmed prior to the event to prevent waste. Refer to the caterer specific guidelines for when the final count is required.

6. When reserving your room for the event, consider where you will have the food located and if needed include extra tables in your room set up request.

7. Creating a culture that keeps our workplace healthy means finding creative ways to make health and wellness part of our day-to-day routine. The catering menus are designed to make the healthiest choice also the easiest choice. You can find additional tips for selecting menus at this link: Healthy catering recommendations

B. Internal Caterer – Request Process

1. Catering Request forms should be submitted through NH Catertrax Request System. www.novanthealthhospitals.catertrax.com

a. Catering request forms must be completed in full with appropriate approvals and cost center numbers.

b. Only request submitted through Catertrax will be accepted.

2. Deadline for submitting catering requests for:

a. 8 or more attendees must be submitted at least 48 hours prior to the event (Monday - Friday). If an event will occur on a Monday, it must be received by 12:00 noon on the preceding Friday.

b. 50 or more attendees, the request must be completed at least 5 business days prior to the event.

c. Recurring events (i.e. monthly meetings) may be submitted up to 6 months in advance.

d. Events with groups of less than 8 must be approved by a Novant Health Vice President

e. Special events (i.e. Hospital Week and Service Awards) should be discussed with the Catering Manager at least 60 days prior to the event.

3. Menu selections are designed to provide Healthy Options (see Catertrax for Menus) and are based on current market prices and availability.

4. All events charged to Novant Health cost centers will be billed at cost.

5. The Food and Nutrition Catering Department reserves the right to adjust the menu in consultation with the requestor.

6. Special menu requests must be approved by a Novant Health Vice President.

7. Serving pieces, china, flatware, etc., provided by the Novant Health catering department are not to be removed after the event. If any of these items are missing when the event is cleaned up, replacements will be ordered and charged to the cost center shown on the Catering Request Form.

8. Internal Caterer Hours of service are Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Please specify the time the meal service is to begin rather than the time the meeting begins.

a. Due to overlapping requests, delivery times are not guaranteed but every effort will be made to deliver in a timely manner.

b. Events requiring the use of overtime will result in the overtime being charged to the requesting department.

9. Cancellations or alterations must be made at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled event. If an event is scheduled for Monday, the cancellation must be made by noon the previous Friday. Special order items may require more than 24 hour notice.

a. Failure to provide adequate cancellation notice may result in denial of future catering services and/or the department being charged for the requested event.

b. Final head count must be received 24 hours prior to the event.

10. It is the responsibility of the requestor to secure a location for the event and any required room set up. When needed reserve at least one hour before and after the event for set up and removal of special catering equipment.

11. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that any room used has been properly cleaned and rearranged. For failure to clean the room, the requestor's cost center may be charged a clean-up fee.

12. On a limited basis the Novant Health Department of Food and Nutrition Services may also cater events off of Novant Health property with the approval of the appropriate Novant Health Vice President.

13. Patient Care takes priority over any catered event. If necessary due to patient care situations any and all catering for that day may be cancelled. The requestor will be notified as quickly as possible prior to the event.

C. Outside Organizations requesting Internal Catering

The Department of Food and Nutrition Services will honor catering requests made by approved outside organizations whose activities are compatible with the mission of Novant Health and as time and resources allow.

1. Outside organizations should contact the Novant Health Department of Food and Nutrition Services at the facility where the event will be held to make arrangements for catering.

2. Requests must be made at least 15 days prior to the event. The name of a Novant Health sponsor is required when making the request.

a. The Novant Health sponsor is responsible for assuring the outside organization’s representative has reviewed and understands this policy.

3. All outside organizations are required to provide a credit card for event confirmation.

4. Prepayment must be made no later than 10 business days prior to the date of the event. Payment is to be made for the guaranteed number of attendees. Any payment not received by this date will be billed to the credit card provided.

5. Any additional costs beyond food and basic labor, such as china, linen, equipment rental, flowers, extra labor, etc. will be added and charged at cost.

D. External Catering Request Process

Approved external caterers (see I-connect for list of approved caterers) may be used for situations in which the preferred Internal Caterer cannot provide service or with the approval of a Novant Health Vice President for other special situations.

1. Healthy Options Menu selections are provided for each of the approved external caterers.

2. Requester should complete the External Catering Request form and obtain appropriate approval prior to contacting the external caterer to place a catering request. You will need to provide a copy of the signed form for the caterer.

3. External Caterer requests require approval from the designated approver for the ordering facility. Approval by a Novant Health Vice President is required when the preferred caterer is available, but not selected due to special situations.

4. When an external caterer that is not on the approved list has been approved for use by the facility approver and reimbursement is being requested submit using a Voucher Payment Request Form

a. Attach a copy of the approved External Catering Request form to the invoice.

b. IUse the account # 61830 - S&E Food Catering

5. Serving pieces, linen, china and flatware will not be provided by the Food and Nutrition Services Department when an outside catering company is catering an event.

E. Food Handling and Safety

1. Novant Health Food and Nutrition Services will provide food that has been prepared and stored safely according to Hazard Analysis Critical control Points (HACCP) procedures.

2. An adequate supply of clean and sanitized food containers and utensils will be provided.

3. If requested, a thermometer will be provided for checking internal temperature of meat and poultry, and disposable gloves for handling ready-to-eat foods.

4. Refrigerate “to go” cold food within one hour of pickup and keep refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

5. Reheat quickly to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit or above and use within 24 hours.

6. Anytime hot food is displayed using Sterno, there must be a fire extinguisher present. Do not leave a lighted Sterno unattended/ out of visual monitoring

F.

VI. DOCUMENTATION

Catering Requests will be documented using Catertrax for Internal Catering request, or the Catering Request Form for External Catering

VII. DEFINITIONS

Internal Caterer – refers to Morrison, or the Novant Health Food and Nutrition Services provider at Novant Health acute care facilities.

External Caterer – refers to community catering companies that are not affiliated with Novant Health. There is an approved list of local caters who have an agreement with Novant Health to provide services.

Outside Organizations – refers to non-Novant Health organizations that have been approved to host events/meetings at a Novant Health facility.