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North Texas hospital group bringing in highly-skilled chefs to help revamp menu with bold flavors

"[We're trying] to elevate hospital food and change people's perception of it," said Executive Chef Adam Schloemer.

DALLAS — The perception of hospital food is that its bland and had limited options for patients. Medical City Healthcare is trying to do something about that.

Medical City Healthcare hospitals has updated its menus to cater to diverse cultures while also being nutritious.

"[We're trying] to elevate hospital food and change people's perception of it," said Adam Schloemer, who is the executive chef at Medical City Las Colinas.

A team of executive chefs and registered dieticians spent a year developing new recipes that reflected the communities where the hospital resides. For example, Medical City Las Colinas is in a community where there is a strong population of Indians and other South Asians. 

Schloemer told WFAA their menu contains vegetable and chicken korma, chicken tikka masala, and even upma, which is an Indian breakfast item.

"It makes you nostalgic because these are the foods we've grown up with," said Shabnam Modgil who is with the Indian Association of North Texas and also with Caravan Radio, which delivers South Asian news, entertainment, and music.

Medical City Healthcare has developed close to 80 new recipes for its patients and hospitals based on geographic location. Other cuisines represented in the new revamp are Asian, Mexican, and Middle-Eastern.

"There's lots of opportunities for highly skilled level chefs to come work in hospitals and provide this high level of service," said Jennifer Ballance, food and nutrition services director at Medical City Las Colinas. 

Schloemer initially never imagined he'd be working in a hospital kitchen. He told WFAA he actually started off in healthcare before making a career change. Schloemer feels he is in the perfect place to provide high-quality food while also serving up "therapy" for the patient.

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