Chinese New Year celebration (January 28-February 15) with greetings from Sodexo account at Stanford Health Care colleagues

Chinese New Year, also known as spring festival, an important Chinese festival falls on Jan 28 this year and the celebration lasted for 15 days.  This year is the year of Rooster. The festivity however starts on Jan 27 where family will all come together to have "Tuan Yuan fan" ( reunion dinner).  This is a significant event as most people in China work far away from home. This might be the only time of the year where they came home to see their family and had a reunion dinner.

So by now you might wonder what is served in the reunion dinner? Usually dishes symbolizing Chinese phrases will be served such as the following dishes:

1) Fish - it symbolizes a Chinese phrase-" Nian nian you yu " (every year there is fish  which means be blessed every year)

2) Fatt Choy ( black hair like algae)- symbolizes prosperity

3) Yee sang - symbolizes abundance and prosperity. The dish consists of strips of raw fish, julienne of vegetables, pickled, condiments and plum sauce. (It's similar to a poke in America). It is toss by everyone at the table. It is believed that the higher you toss it, the more prosper you will be.

4) Poon choi ( basin cuisine) symbolizes teamwork and unity and equality. The dish usually consists of abalone,pork, fish, chicken, duck, fish maw, dried mushrooms, scallops, prawn and fatt choy

5) Nian Gao (Chinese New Year cake)- The dish symbolises the promise of a better year such as a higher income, position or growth of children.  The dish is usually made from glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, water and sugar)

Ang Pow or Hung-Bao (Red envelope) are also a new year favorite. It is given by married couples to their friends and family during the new year. Red is the favorite color and you will see decorations and clothings in red in household and shopping malls in Asia.  Lion dance and fire crackers are another favorite. 

In celebrating the festivity, I had invited a few of my colleagues in the Sodexo account at Stanford Health Care to present their well wishes in the different Asian dialect (Tagalog, Mandarin and Cantonese). 

Wishing everyone who is celebrating the festivity a Happy Chinese New Year!

Meanings from Kiran Robinson's greetings (In cantonese.):

Happy New Year

Please give me my red packet

I don't want coins 

Please give $5 for my pocket money.
Note: Kiran is teasing us to tell us to be generous. Don't give her coins in the red packet. She want notes.

Pictures of decorations in shopping malls in Asia during the Chinese New Year (Year of the Rooster)

Chinese New Year Dishes

Lou Sang

Nian Gao (Chinese New Year pudding)

Mcdonald Special Beef Prosperity burger for the new year

Celebrating 584 Accident Free Days and counting at Patient Equipment Management Solutions (PEMS) department

Left to right: Skylar, David, Alex, Matt, Peter and Christian

The Patient Equipment Management Solutions (PEMS) team at Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's hospital is celebrating 584 injury free days today.

When I spoke to the team to learn more about their best practices, they mentioned communication, teamwork and staying focus on the job plays an important role in safety. Peter Stanislaw and Sergio Maldonado, PEMS Operation managers also encourage a safety culture among the team and provides safety trainings such as Sodexo 3 checks for Safety training during the daily huddle and monthly training.  

What is 3 Checks to Safety?

Before starting a job, stop and think:
1) Do you know how to do the job?

      2) Do you have the correct equipment?        
3) Is your environment safe?

    The message helps the team to always put safety first. To the PEMS team-  Thank you for your commitment to Safety! We appreciate all that you do!

" A smile is a Curve that Sets Everything Straight"

Christine Guzman

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight"- Phyllis Diller

I happened to go to the Patient Transport department this afternoon and saw this wonderful quote on the department vis wall. Christien Guzman, Patient Transport lead, who was in charge of the department huddle and vis wall this week wrote this wonderful quote to inspire his colleagues.

When I asked Chris, what inspired him to write this quote, his answer brought a smile to my face. He said "Coming to work and seeing patients faces and reactions when introducing ourselves is what inspred me to come up with this quote" I asked Chris how did he applies this quote in his work, he replied" It is important to greet patients with a smile because it gives a sense of connection and comfort to any individual who may be dealing with life threatening illnesses"

Christien- Thank you for inspiring me with your quote.  Thank you for putting patients at the heart of everything we do!


  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

2017 is going to be an exciting year for the Sodexo team at Stanford Health Care. 

The newly renovated Market Square Cafe at Stanford Health Care will open on January 24 (That's 10 days from today!) and we will have the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on January 23. Special thanks to all colleagues that worked tirelesly during the renovations period. 

As we celebrate a new beginning, I would also like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of our colleague's stories and successes in 2016.

Stanford Health Care Environmental Services Department

The Environmental Services department joint effort with Stanford University- Stepping Stone to Success program (SSTS) to offer computer classes to our colleagues. A total of 28 colleagues are currently enrolling in the class and they will be graduating in 2017.

Rozlin Nisha, housekeeper was promoted to the position of EVS Supervisor in December 2016

Left to Right: Simon, Rozlin, Carl and Vijay 

Stanford Health Care Food and Nutrition Department

The Food and Nutrition department at Stanford Health Care led by Ted Weirich, Director of Food and Nutrition has partnered with COPIA, a tech- enabled food recovery company since September 2016. 

According to Ted , as a result of the initiatives, from September - November 2016, 8,786 lbs. of food were recovered and 7,323 meals were provided. This has also resulted in sustainability effort of 8,259 lbs. of methane being diverted. 

Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard's Children Hospital Express Department-

The Facilities Services Response Center (FSRC), Patient Equipment Management Solutions (PEMS) and Patient Transport 

The PEMS department closed the year with 550 accident free days and the Patient Transport department closed the year with 106 accident free day! FSRC had an injury free year as well. Great job Express Team! Thank you for supporting Sodexo Zero harm culture! 

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Environmental Services Department

The Environmental Services team at Lucile Packard Children's hospital had a successful The Joint Commission audit in 2016, they had also supported Sodexo Have a Safe Day Campaign

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Food and Nutrition Department
The Food and Nutrition team at Lucile Packard Children's hospital had a successful The Joint Commission audit in 2016, acheved 100% compliance in Sodexo SoSafe Health and Safety and Food Safety audit and successfully put together an amazing "Super Hero" booth during Halloween Celebration at the hospital.

To all team members- Thank you for all that you do! 

I look forward to sharing more amazing success stories that this team will bring in 2017!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!