New Silver Cross Menu Helps Patients Feel Less Like Patients

You’re away from home, and it’s time to let room service know what you’d like to have for dinner. 

Breakfast was a cheesy spinach egg bite and red potato hash, accompanied by fresh-brewed coffee poured by your server. Lunch was blackened tilapia, lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce on a brioche bun, with a bowl of fresh fruit on the side. 

Dinner might be tough to choose: beef burgundy with herb citrus crunch, rosemary polenta, caramelized carrots and pearl onions, or the chicken piccata with mashed potatoes and seasoned green beans. 

These and other high-end restaurant choices are now available to patients with non-restricted diets at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

“We wanted to elevate the menu to more of a high-end restaurant experience, rather than healthcare offerings,” said Megan Jakusz, Director of Nutrition Services at Silver Cross. 

“We were looking to have a new take on old menu items and upgrade them. So, we pulled the meatloaf off the menu and added the beef burgundy, BBQ salmon with cheese grits and sauteed spinach. More of what you would see in a restaurant, but still healthy.” 

Silver Cross Executive Chef Mike Stephans said they worked with their food service provider on the upgraded menu – from breakfast items like biscuits and gravy with eggs, to lunch offerings such as a deluxe impossible burger and blackened tilapia sandwich to the dinner options like the Southwestern Carnitas Bowl and Pasta Pomodoro. 

And no more drink offerings in small plastic cups with the tear-off tops. Beverages are presented in glassware, including the fresh-squeezed orange juice. 

In December, the hospital previewed the new menu items to hospital employees, and judging by the overwhelming response from some 200 employees who taste-tested the offerings, Jakusz and Stephans are pretty sure they have a hit on their hands. 

New menu offerings also will carry over to holidays, with specials for Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. 

“No one wants to be in the hospital, especially on a holiday,” Jakusz said. “We’re trying to make the experience a little more like home for patients.” 

She added, “A great meal experience often equates to an overall positive hospital experience for patients. With an elevated menu and an upscale presentation, we’re confident our patients will be very pleased, not only with their meals, but also with their overall hospital stay.” 

For more information, visit silvercross.org