What offers a wide selection of food, is open all night, and serves more than 3,000 meals in a twenty-four-hour period? It’s not a fast food chain, it’s Washington County Hospital’s Nutrition Services department.

Nutrition Services at Washington County Hospital makes meals happen at different locations across the health system. In addition to food service for patients at the hospital, Nutrition Services also operates the hospital cafeteria, the Robin’s Cove, to serve visitors and hospital staff; the Coffee Shoppe, which is open twenty-four hours a day; and the Robin’s Nest at Robinwood Medical Center.

The department also provides catering services for health system events or meetings and food service to students and staff at the Learning Center, Washington County Hospital’s child care facility. Each location offers something different, all while keeping nutrition in mind.

We focus on freshness. Our chef purchases ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, crisp lettuce, and more at the peak of freshness from local farmers. Much of the produce comes from a hydroponic farm that grows food in a way that doesn’t need heavy pesticides, fertilizers, or even soil. Washington County Hospital is one of the few Maryland hospitals serving locally grown produce to patients, visitors, and staff.

It can be a challenge to serve people with many different nutritional needs, but with ninety staff members including registered clinical dieticians and nutrition assistants, patients are in good hands. Clinical dieticians do in-depth assessments on all patients who are deemed to be a nutrition risk. It’s important for nutrition services to make sure patients’ nutritional needs are being met. Also, patients must understand how the right diet can positively affect health. The staff helps patients to become educated about their condition and nutritional needs.

If you have any questions or comments, please call the department office at 301-790-8080. The office is open  Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm.