The kitchen serving line is over 30 years old and is not properly designed to meet today�s operational requirements.

The present serving line requires extensive reaching for the server to place food on the plates and set them upon the shelf over the heated food wells. See the following photo.

The serving line should be one foot narrower in width. A similar problem exists when cleaning up after each meal. See the following photo and the way in which the clean-up person is required to reach across the tray line to clean the shelf.

We believe that the tray line should be changed from the present fixed line to a separate roller tray line on wheels that can be moved away from the serving line for cleaning.

Presently all food is prepared upon trays for distribution to the residents. Those eating in the dining room have their food removed from the trays and set upon the tables in front of them. A significant part of changing the image at Montgomery Meadows is the method of serving in the dining room. It has been proposed to change from serving from trays in the Dining Room to serving restaurant style, a method that many other facilities have adopted. Such serving requires a wait person station for the waiters to do table set-up and serving of many items without having to go to the main serving line. This will also lessen the tray set-up and cart storage area.

During the visit to the Green Manor Nursing Home, the management of Montgomery Meadows saw how compact the serving line and tray setup was as compared to the Montgomery Meadows line. See the following photo.

Note how much less reaching is required for serving and placing plates upon the shelf as compared to that depicted in the photo of the Montgomery Meadows serving line. The following photo affords a better view of the front of the serving line and the roller table.

For easy cleaning, both the "pellet" warmer and roller tray line can be moved away from the serving line on their respective casters.

We had a kitchen consultant review the serving line, and they advised only changing the steam table to prevent the long serving reach. The cost to do this modernization at off-hours is only $8,000.00.

The kitchen manager also indicated the need of another walk-in refrigerator, particularly if the full plan is accepted. In order to install this new refrigerator, the toilet room would have to be relocated in the area where the existing corridor to the lobby is located. When the new corridor is built, the remaining alcove is the perfect spot for this toilet room. The cost of this work should be less than $25,000.00.