Legacy Retirement Communities three campuses in Nebraska proactively shut down all dining room operations and transitioned to full room service across before the nationwide guidance, according to an article on the Food Management website.

For sheltering in place, they hired additional cooking staff in order to offer our exact dining room menu. 

In mid-July, under revised guidance from the state board of health, Legacy reopened its assisted living dining rooms by establishing two dining windows with a half hour for sanitizing in between.

In the meantime, the team has transitioned from room service for these independent living residents to food stations on each floor every night. Residents can socially distance in line and be served everything from the salad, entree to dessert. 

Though healthcare operators are facing a new normal, their business is less likely to see longer-term impacts than other food service segments. A recent survey showed that 45 percent of healthcare operators are “cautiously optimistic; expect our operation to come through this stronger than ever.”

The largest group, 55 percent of healthcare operators, are “worried, but fairly confident our operation will get through this in one piece,” according to an earlier Food Management article.

Read the full Food Management article.