Staff receive the retrieval carts from a spur located in the corridor to the left of the dishroom and break down the carts at dishtables located along the southern side of the dishroom. The staff empty retrieval carts and move them north to be loaded into the pass-through cart washer and into storage.

"Energy conservation and labor management in a 30,000-square-foot kitchen is not an option but rather a key component in the design," Khouw says. "The use of a parallel refrigeration rack system, which is more energy efficient, provides added benefit or redundancy in case a compressor should fail. Also, variable fan-drive motor/controls allow cooking hoods to modulate their exhaust speed depending on how much cooking is occurring below the hood. In addition, fryers allow waste-oil reclamation. Careful consideration was made to create spatial adjacencies that promote cosharing of staff and synergism."

Johns Hopkins is world renowned for its excellent healthcare and advanced medical technology. As one might expect at a facility of this enormous size and scope, systems are continuously reviewed and adjusted, and the foodservice is no exception.

"This operation is very complex with multiple moving parts serving a population with multiple needs," Dorsey says. "We must be on top of our game at all times. This is a huge challenge, and we've had to reevaluate all our systems and equipment usage to ensure they work in the real world. We're very fortunate that this hospital is willing to make the investment so we can do our jobs well."

Key Players

• Foodservice Director, Department of Food and Clinical Nutrition at Johns Hopkins, and Resident District Manager for Sodexo: Leo Dorsey
• Assistant Director, Food and Clinical Nutrition Department: Helen Mullan, RD, LD, with Sodexo
• Executive Chef, Department of Food and Clinical Nutrition: Jake Fatica, with Sodexo
• Project Manager, Department of Food and Clinical Nutrition: Julie Branham, MS, RD, LDN, with Sodexo
• Architect: Perkins + Will, Washington, DC, office
• Foodservice Consultants: Porter Khouw Consulting, Crofton, Md.; Albin Khouw, principal; Roberta Hofmeister, project manager
• Equipment Dealer: Performance Interiors (Sodexo)
• Construction: Roy Kirby, Baltimore
• Engineering: Burdette, Koehler, Murphy & Associates, Baltimore

Facts of Note

• Ownership: The Johns Hopkins Hospital, part of Johns Hopkins Medicine, a $6.5 billion integrated global health enterprise that operates 6 academic and community hospitals, 4 suburban healthcare and surgery centers, and has more than 2.6 million outpatient encounters per year
• Headquarters: Baltimore
• The Johns Hopkins Hospital Foodservice operated by Sodexo: All patient foodservice, retail foodservice and catering in a total of nine buildings
• Opened: The central kitchen opened in January 2012 with staff training and service of patients in the Weinberg building. Full operation began in late April 2012.
• Scope: The kitchen serves The Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is licensed for 1,051 beds; the new $1.1 billion, 1.6 million-square-foot patient care building with dual 12-story towers opened in April 2012. The kitchen and its older counterpart, another 30,000-square-foot kitchen, prepares nearly 13,000 meals daily for inpatients and for customers in the nonexternal-branded food venues.
• Size of the Central Kitchen: 30,000 sq. ft., located in the sublevel of the Orleans Street Garage
• Size of Employee Break Room: 1,400 sq. ft.
• Total Annual Sales: Not available
• Central Kitchen Operating Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Staff: Not available
• Cost of Central Kitchen and Weinberg galleys: Not available
• Equipment Investment: Not available
• Website: www.hopkinsmedicine.org