Thanks to ARAMARK for this opportunity to exchange ideas and to get a behind the scenes look of a major league ball park.

As I accepted the fellowship offer, I knew that my immediate experience would be at the client hospital. However I was curious to learn about the impact that Aramark truly had on its clients and their consumers. The fellowship program is in itself a great example of Aramark’s commitment to its clients. As I started my fellowship and learnt more about Aramark, I began observing the role Aramark employees played in my host hospital. I also learnt about the various services provided by the organization. Until then I had no idea of what support services truly meant to various clients especially in hospitals and healthcare organizations. I realized that they actually played an integral role in client hospitals’ operations—seamless to the outside world, the services provided by Aramark touch people’s lives everyday—yet goes mostly unrecognized. Actually, most people outside the industry do not realize this.

As part of our first quaterly meeting, I had the opportunity to tour the Citizen’s Bank Park and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia along with my co-fellows. Although Aramark caters to different service needs in both these organizations, a common theme was obvious in both the locations- Aramark’s commitment in providing excellent service. I was particularly impressed to see the dining operations that take place at CHOP. After all, food is one thing that could provide comfort to the sick and their families. The food court was designed to be family friendly-a place where the families could take a break. There is also a room service option that is available to patients. Making all this possible are the dining service workers who contribute toward the best outcome through their role each and every day-from front line workers to managers. One story that especially touched my heart was when I found out that one of the senior chefs specially catered to a child’s request to personally cook and feed him his meal everyday as long as he was in the hospital. The chef happily catered to the child’s wish. It is these and other untold gestures by support services that exemplify the patient oriented care continuum.

My view of support services is now very different than what it was before I started my fellowship. I can see the countless ways in which support services contribute toward better care environments.

As I progress in the fellowship and gain invaluable experience, I will carry home the lessons I learn from working for a great organization-strive for excellence and make it better for others. This fellowship program is invaluable for graduates who are striving to pave their way into healthcare. It is not just a means to land your next job-it teaches you to do a better job in whatever you do.

Renuka Sundaresan
Administrative Fellow
Chidlren’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia,PA
Sundaresan-renuka@aramark.com

Demand for postgraduate fellowship opportunities has been strong among those entering the healthcare management field. A residency or fellowship provides experiential learning for the participant, it helps to develop a sense of professionalism, builds a marketable portfolio of projects, and helps the person develop a professional network. There is a professional obligation on the part of senior executives to help the next generation of leaders by offering a residency or fellowship in their organizations. In addition to benefitting those entering the healthcare management profession, organizations offering residencies or fellowships benefit by cultivating those new to healthcare management.

Cynthia Hahn, FACHE, CAE
Vice President, Membership
American College of Healthcare Executives
One N. Franklin, Ste. 1700
Chicago, IL 60606

In a July 2009 article, “Americans have tools to reverse obesity trend,” the LA Times reports that two out of three adults and one out of five children are now classified as overweight or obese. This data calls out for a national plan for behavioral change. Childhood obesity is a significant predictor for anxiety, depression, asthma, joint problems and is very closely linked to the development of diabetes. Adults face increased risk of heart disease and negative health outcomes. Additionally, the direct healthcare costs of obesity have risen to $147 billion a year.

The United States needs to focus on healthy eating, encouraging physical activity, and an enlightened attitude toward what we eat. Accordingly, states like New York have made bold moves, especially with their calorie-counting initiatives. Requiring large chains to post the caloric count of food items on their menu, New York state hopes to raise the awareness of consumers and encourage healthy choices.

But what the necessary next step is to evaluate how well these approaches work. Does knowing that a muffin is 440 calories truly change the way consumers see their food? Are people more likely to choose a cup of fruit over that muffin or are they still making the same choices? This is why the Wharton School has partnered with ARAMARK Healthcare to research “Asymmetrical Paternalism,” or how providers can influence consumer’s choices.

With all four Fellows working on the project at our respective sites across the nation with guidance from academics, medical professionals, service professionals, Wharton and ARAMARK staff, we’re able to explore the research process from several different viewpoints. As Fellows, we see the interaction between ARAMARK Healthcare staff and hospital administrators. There’s a significant amount of support from both sides of the equation because both want to help their employees and patients make healthy choices. Of course, there are challenges that arise from these interactions; it can be difficult to put together the logistics of such an all-encompassing project.

We’re striving to investigate an important healthcare issue in bringing together all the layers of professionals involved in this project, from the cashier ringing up your food to hospital leaders to café customers. While the goal is compelling, sharing your vision with others and encouraging them to support a project that requires such a complex process can be challenging.

Standardizing the project protocol across diverse sets of healthcare institutions requires communication and flexibility. Despite the fact that our ends will be similar, the means by which we collect our data is different. This is tied into the fact that each hospital and health system is unique. Each institution has their own needs, challenges, consumer populations, and strategies. It’s important to align research project goals with the institution’s goals.

Additionally, healthcare administrators face special challenges everyday and that makes proposing an extended project difficult. Instead of focusing on putting out their own daily fires, they also have to keep an eye on a project that pays out in the long term. Reconciling and meeting these concerns has been a large part of the research project process, particularly as fellows. But working to such an important goal, to better understand how to alleviate obesity, is what we remain focused on. And with our research, we can drive the movement towards healthier living, better health outcomes, and an higher standard of life.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Asymmetrical Paternalism project, keep an eye out for the write up coming out in 2010. Thank you for your time!

-Virginia Lewis

I wanted to speak to another point made by Fred Hobby, “When you have someone of a diverse profile in a C-Suite level position, their representation of the community at large helps to minimize the disparity of healthcare delivery because they understand the specific needs of the people who are visiting their hospital.” This is why this fellowship was so appealing to me. Being a woman of color, working alongside persons who typically don’t’ “look” like me is challenging. That is why it has been my goal to work for organizations that foster and promote diversity; who show a true commitment not only to their organization, but their community. ARAMARK’s partnership with The Institute for Diversity, and the four host hospitals have exemplified this commitment through this fellowship.

With that being said, I was elated to come to an organization that will afford me opportunities to work within the system and the surrounding community on meaningful projects. Especially this one project that I am working on, called The Healthcare Equity Campaign. The mission of the campaign is “to increase knowledge, awareness and opportunities to ensure healthcare equity is understood and practiced by Henry Ford Health System providers and others including the research community and the community-at-large; and to link healthcare equity as a key, measurable aspect of clinical quality.” There is a three-year strategy in which the campaign shall raise awareness, implement tools that improve cross-cultural communication and collaboration, and integrate quality-equity metrics into system processes to ensure sustainability and accountability.

By working on this campaign, I have been introduced to a wide array of opinions and practices of various persons and cultures in relation to providing culturally competent care. I have met some truly awesome people and most of all I am working on something that will make a tremendous difference. I must leave you with a quote used on the campaign from the late, great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “of all forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.”

Apply for this fellowship! You will have opportunities of a lifetime and see healthcare from several lenses: ARAMARK, The Institute for Diversity, and your host hospital. What other fellowships offer that?

Brandi M. Elliott, MHA
Administrative Fellow
Henry Ford Hospital
One Ford Place
Detroit, MI 48202
313.874.9554
Belliot1@hfhs.org