Reynolds Army Community Hospital DFAC named best for second straight year

By Jeff Crawley, Fort Sill CannoneerFebruary 26, 2015

RACH DFAC
Elyce Thomas, Reynolds Army Community Hospital dining facility cook, serves lunch at the DFAC Feb. 20, 2015. For the second consecutive year, the RACH DFAC was recognized as the best in a medical treatment facility contracted by Sodexo -- the food se... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Feb. 26, 2015) -- For the second consecutive year, Reynolds Army Community Hospital's dining facility (DFAC) was named the best DFAC in a medical treatment facility (MTF) contracted by Sodexo, the food services contractor for Army MTFs.

RACH, which is part of the Army Southern Regional Medical Command, went up against forts Jackson, Leonard Wood, Riley, Stewart, Irwin and Knox, and the United States Military Academy.

"We were able to continue and keep up and still be number one, as the criteria changed and the needs of the Army changed for nutritional awareness," said Elisa Van Brunt, RACH Sodexo Government Services general manager.

The DFAC serves Soldiers, civilians and contractors daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with meals in a 140-seat dining hall on the first floor of the hospital, said Capt. Deana Lawrence, RACH Nutrition Care chief. The DFAC is also responsible for providing meals to in-patients in the 24-bed hospital.

A three-person inspection team visited the DFAC in April and evaluated the facility on a 1,000-point checklist, Van Brunt said.

In kitchen operations, evaluators reviewed such items as food production, compliance with Army menus and storage practices.

"They base it on sanitation, customer service, recipes, market, food presentation," Van Brunt said. "A lot of the scoring is also based on what the captain (Lawrence) is responsible for like the Healthy Base Initiative and Performance Triad, Go-for-Green program, and the food labeling system."

They tasted the food, reviewed customer feedback and talked with diners, she said. To score "excellent" a DFAC had to score above 880, Van Brunt said. Although the evaluators did not give her the final score, they said it was above 880.

Twenty-seven Sodexo contractors, two Soldiers and three civilian diet technicians keep the DFAC running. On weekdays they serve 500 to 600 diners for breakfast; 600 to 700 for lunch; and a few hundred for dinner. The numbers are lower for weekends. In addition, they serve about 21 in-patient meals per day.

The RACH DFAC is open to everyone. Menu items are continually updated and are priced a la carte. A diner can get a pretty decent meal for under $5, the captain said.

"I've heard we have the best salad bar in Lawton," Lawrence said.

"It is true. I've eaten at other salad bars," chimed in Van Brunt.

Van Brunt and Lawrence said they are continuously raising the bar to see what they can do to improve services.

"Our end goal is to make our customer happy," said Van Brunt. ''We want them to have a good nutritious meal and to enjoy it."