The Association for Healthcare Foodservice announced the winners of its 2014 Future Horizons, Spotlight, Partnership in Leadership and Exemplary Leadership awards. AHF will present the awards during its annual conference, which takes place June 3-6 in Orlando, Fla.

Healthcare foodservice has gone through a renaissance of sorts in the last few years. While many institutions have redone their main cafeterias and serveries, revisiting their retail outlets has become another important part of the refreshing process. 

Uncertainty, cost containment, patient-centered care, retail cafés and wellness all make the list of top trends in today's ever-challenging, ever-dynamic world of healthcare foodservice.

Awards will be given at the organization's annual conference in June. 

Replacing an aging facility, the multiplatform Wildflower Café features culinary variety while room service offers patients a restaurant-style, on-demand food delivery system.

Non-commercial foodservice projects can take a lot of forms. Here we explore the impetus behind the design of a pair of Chicago-based installations and how their uses shaped equipment selection.

Menu labeling and insurance mandates loom large for the foodservice industry.

As a business leader you are undoubtedly aware that the Affordable Healthcare Act is about to take effect. But that seems to be where most people's understanding of the legislation begins and ends. That's because this legislation is highly complex and to someone outside of Washington, D.C., it seems like a maze of regulations that are indiscriminately and independently linked to each other.

Under pressure to contain costs and increase accountability, healthcare foodservice providers are focusing on improving patient and retail customer satisfaction. Innovative solutions to gargantuan challenges are appearing in operations nationwide.

A responsive, efficient room service program is bringing compliments from patients, staff and visitors and changing their perception of what patient foodservice can offer.

Looking to distinguish their operations from the competition, many healthcare facilities continue to create foodservice environments that can serve as a difference maker in the eyes of the public. As such, many healthcare operators continue to incorporate sophisticated serveries, patient-focused room-service programs and, in some cases, high-end restaurants that can compete with local eateries.

The 2012 IFMA Silver Plate winner in healthcare discusses foodservice and sustainability challenges at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

A rebranded food and nutrition department features the state-of-the-art, multiplatform WILDFLOWER café and room service by WILDFLOWER which offers patients a restaurant-style, on-demand food delivery system.

Responsibilities also include parts and service department.

AHF elects four new board members and two nominating committee members.

While the future of healthcare in the U.S. remains unclear, one thing that remains certain is that sooner or later nutritional disclosure will be a mandate that foodservice operators will need to address.

Healthcare foodservice has come a long way in the past 20 years and it continues to progress. To get a better idea about how this segment is incorporating consumer-driven trends into its operations and what healthcare foodservice operators will need to do to be successful moving forward, FE&S chatted with Bruce Thomas, president of the National Association of Healthcare