On Wednesday, 3 February 2021, our food services department seamlessly moved into their new state of the art industrial kitchen.

The new kitchen is one of the first areas in Stage 2 of the Northern Hospital Expansion Project to officially go live.

Led by Director of Support Services, Greg Warman, the team transitioned smoothly on Wednesday morning into their new space on the ground floor of the new building.

“The move went perfectly. The team worked exceptionally well and exceptionally hard and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” Greg expressed.

“Nobody noticed that we had moved, which is what we were after. There were no disruptions at all to patients so it was a completely seamless operation,” Greg added.

Breakfast on Wednesday morning at 7 am was the first meal the team provided in their new kitchen.

“I’m really proud of my team – they’ve done an outstanding job and together, for Northern Health and ISS, it’s been an amazing, monumental effort. Well done to everyone involved,” said Tina Smith, ISS Catering Manager.

Greg explained the planning for the kitchen began over three and a half years ago.

“Then once construction started, we started planning the move, so we’ve been planning this move for 12 months and it all came down to the pointy end two days ago, where we had to make sure everything was in place,” Greg said.

“Transitioning to a new kitchen without missing a meal for a single patient is an incredible achievement and it’s been a great pleasure working with a great ISS team to achieve this. At ISS, when we say ‘we connect people and places to make the world better’, this is exactly what we mean,” says Saj Amerasinghe, Key Account Manager for ISS Facility Services at Northern Health.

For the next fortnight, the team are focusing on settling into their new space and bedding down all of the new processes.

“Some staff have worked in the kitchen for over 20 years so it will take a bit of time to adjust to the new area,” Greg explained.

Within the next month, the team will start planning for introducing different aspects such as preparing meals on-site rather than having them delivered.

“We want to make sure staff are comfortable and let them really settle in and get used to the new equipment,” added Greg.

“We are really proud of our staff for their exceptional work during this transition.”