Congratulations to Shiyaamaa Fahme and the Monash Health Central Production Kitchen (MHCPK) for winning awards at the Victorian Institute of Hospitality in Healthcare (IHHC) Excellence Awards 2023 last week.
The national award program recognises employees in the Food Services or Support Services department of a health or aged care organisation, for excellence in their duties and work.
As State Category winners, Shiyaama and MHCPK are awarded $250 prize money each and will be nominated for the National award of their respective categories.
Learn more about our award-winning colleagues below:
Shiyaamaa Fahme, Menu Administrator, Monash Health Central Production Kitchen – IHHC Brightest Star Award
Shiyaama has been with the MHCPK for around 10 years and is currently a Menu Administrator. Additionally, Shiyaamaa was the key contact to implement an enhanced menu management system and patient experience, across Monash Health campuses and community sites. Most recently, she supported the implementation of the menu management system at the Victorian Heart Hospital.
Adopting the new menu management system came with circumstances that were unique to the MHCPK, which meant Shiyaama worked collaboratively with the provider to ensure everything was planned and executed accurately. Because of her in-depth understanding of stakeholders’ needs, she provided a unique point of view and niche way of problem-solving.
Kevin Maczkowiack, Key Account Manager, Eastern Health praised Shiyaama, saying, “Shiyaamaa provides service with a human touch.”
Her MHCPK team has also said, “Life in our MHCPK is full of adventures and Shiyaamaa delivers every opportunity to shine with passion, grace, compassion and empathy. Shiyaamaa is our bright shining star in our CPK administration team.”
Shiyaamaa has proven to be an effective and appreciated member of the team and a deserving winner of the award.
MHCPK and Latrobe Regional Hospital – IHHC Project of the Year Award
The MHCPK supported the provision of meals for the Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH), while the kitchen at LRH was undergoing major refurbishment and renovations. The collaboration lasted 7 weeks and enabled LRH to retain its hot meal service and a seamless patient experience.
Other achievements of the project included:
- Accommodating the production of an additional 18,000 SmartPak meals
- Developed a viable retherm methodology for the SmartPak meals
- Deliver additional meals 2-3 times per week
- Support the planning of a temporary kitchen, hired freezers and retherm equipment
- Manage additional delivery processes and create new workflows while aligning with Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards.
- Coded nutritional and diet information of meals into the menu management system at LRH to minimise risk to patients
- Patients received hot meals with up to 6 choices every day of the week, meeting dietary, nutritional, cultural and religious requirements.
MHCPK and LRH won this award in recognition of their innovative partnership to pursue excellence in all circumstances.
Shiyaamaa and MHCPK are now in the running for National Category Awards which will be announced at the IHHC 2023 Gala Conference Dinner on 18 October 2023, at the Hilton Hotel, Adelaide, South Australia. The National Category winners are awarded $500 prize money and will be nominated for the Rosemary Anne Pirie OAM Award, which also comes with $500 prize money.
Congratulations again to our employees and teams for their Awards at the Victorian IHHC Awards and good luck for the national stage. And an honourable mention to our Monash Health nominees for their deserved recognition.
Approved by Sharon McNulty, Director, Support Services