Dietary & Food Services Aide I

Tufts Medical Center; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 23,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

Tufts Medicine is seeking a hospital dietary support professional to assist in preparing and serving meals, delivering patient trays, and maintaining kitchen cleanliness across multiple locations. You will manage diet orders, assist with menu selection, and help ensure accurate, timely service for patients and units.

The role emphasizes working under supervision in a hands-on environment with routine procedures, PPE use, and adherence to sanitation standards.

Qualifications

• Food service experience is required.
• High School diploma or equivalent preferred.
• One year in hospital food services is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Maintain diet order information and ensure patients receive appropriate meals.
• Assist with menu selection and modified diets for patients.
• Deliver trays and ensure accuracy of patient trays.
• Maintain sanitation and temperature logs per regulations.

Skills

Reading & writing

Interpersonal skills

Therapeutic diets familiarity

Sterile food handling

Equipment operation

Knife handling

Education

High School diploma or equivalent

One year hospital food services

Tools

Cash register

Dish machine

Slicer

Job description

Job Profile Summary

This role focuses on activities related to the support services functions, such as dietary and food services, environmental services, general facilities, repair and maintenance, parking, sterilization and transportation to ensure all required support activities are completed in a timely manner and meet the organization's quality standards and expectations. In addition, this role focuses on performing the following Dietary & Food Services duties: Prepares and serves meals based on general or special diets. Responsibilities also include operating and maintaining kitchens, cafeterias, and counters across entity locations. Manages food inventories, schedules vendor deliveries, food preparation, and menu planning while adhering to regulatory guidelines. An organizational related support or service (administrative or clerical) role or a role that focuses on support of daily business activities (e.g., technical, clinical, non-clinical) operating in a “hands on” environment. The majority of time is spent in the delivery of support services or activities, typically under supervision. An entry level role that typically requires little to no prior knowledge or experience, work is routine or follows standard procedures, work is closely supervised, and communicates information that requires little explanation or interpretation.

Job Overview

Under general supervision, this position works in any location where food is prepared including retail, patient and catering operations. This position is involved in all aspects of food services including assisting with menu selection, food preparation, food delivery, kitchen cleanliness and sanitation.

Job Description

Minimum Qualifications:

• Food service experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• One (1) year in hospital food services.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Maintains and communicates accurate and updated diet order information through the system to ensure patients receive appropriate meals, nourishments and commercial enteral products in accordance with current diet order.
• Elicits patient information regarding food preferences, intolerances, likes and dislikes. Alerts the Clinical Dietitian to any actual or potential nutritional problems of patients.
• Assists patients with menu selection and writes and corrects regular and as assigned modified diets for patients. Responsible for maintaining high level of accuracy and appropriateness of patient trays.
• Delivers trays to patients, picks up trays from patients.
• Follows all precautions on patient units by donning and doffing PPE appropriately. Performs hand hygiene according to standards.
• Stocks nursing unit pantries with nourishments and dietary supplies, utilizing first-in, first-out system.
• Ensures accurate tray assembly on patient tray line. Prepares normal menu items, salads, sandwiches, desserts, and special items.
• Operates a variety of kitchen utensils to weigh, measure, mix, wash, peel, cut, grind, stir, strain, season and knead food items for cooking, serving and storing.
• Assists in the preparation of hot and/or cold foods, and properly stores food, utilizing knowledge of temperature requirements and spoilage.
• Maintains accurate sanitation and temperature logs in work area according to regulatory requirements.
• Assists with setup, stocking, serving and delivering of food from counters, steam tables and work stations.
• Responsible for cleaning and sanitizing of dishware, equipment and work stations. Strips, sanitizes, stacks, patients' trays and utensils in dish room, reassembles tray line. Cleans and sanitizes pots and utensils equipment, floors, walls, dish machine, etc.
• Removes trash from assigned workstation and/or from kitchen to specified area. Returns empty bottles and cans to recycle bin located in receiving /loading dock area. Removes crushed cardboard to designated areas.
• Maintains collaborative, team relationships with peers and colleagues in order to effectively contribute to the working groups achievement of goals, and to help foster a positive work environment.
• May prepare special nutritional products such as infant formulas, modular tube feedings, or powdered nutritionals for high-risk adult patients.
• May operate a cash register (or equivalent), receives payments of cash, checks and charges from customers or employees for goods or services, making change and issuing receipts or tickets to customers.

Physical Requirements

• Standing and walking for 95% of the day, straining and lifting approximately 30lbs., pushing loaded carts (approximately 400lbs.).
• Requires manual dexterity to handle money, work cash register, preparing food,
• Exposure to infectious diseases due to interacting with sick patients
• Possible exposure hazardous chemicals due to cleaning and sanitation.
• Requires ability to hear phoned patient orders, supervisors instructions.
• Exposure to heat, cold, steam, chemicals and hot equipment.
• Frequent exposure to garbage and trash.

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to read, write, and understand written instructions.
• Interpersonal skills necessary to interact with patients, patient care team and employees.
• Familiarity with therapeutic diets.
• Knowledge of sterile food handling techniques.
• Ability to operate simple mechanical devices such as coffee urn, dish machine, slicer, trash compactor.
• Ability to use a knife for slicing, cutting, dicing.

At Tufts Medicine, we want every individual to feel valued for the skills and experience they bring. Our compensation philosophy is designed to offer fair, competitive pay that attracts, retains, and motivates highly talented individuals, while rewarding the important work you do every day. The base pay ranges reflect the minimum qualifications for the role. Individual offers are determined using a comprehensive approach that considers relevant experience, certifications, education, skills, and internal equity to ensure compensation is fair, consistent, and aligned with our business goals. Beyond base pay, Tufts Medicine provides a comprehensive Total Rewards package that supports your health, financial security, and career growth—one of the many ways we invest in you so you can thrive both at work and outside of it.

Pay Range: $17.00 - $19.09 based on full-time equivalent

Tufts Medicine is a leading integrated health system bringing together the best of academic and community health care to deliver exceptional, connected and accessible care experiences to consumers across Massachusetts. Comprised of Tufts Medical Center, Lowell General Hospital, MelroseWakefield Healthcare, an expansive home care network and a large clinically integrated physician network, Tufts Medicine has more than 15,000 dedicated employees and caregivers. The health system came together in 2014 to leverage the experience of its member organizations and integrate their missions to together transform the ways that consumers engage with and experience their care.