Meals up to standard - board chairman
Published:Tuesday | April 5, 2011 | 12:00 AM
The Vineyard Town Golden Age Home has defended the quality of the meals it serves to the hundreds of elderly and disabled persons housed there, despite the seemingly paltry rates approved by Cabinet earlier this year.
Chairman of the home's board of directors, Rion Hall, said the meals are prepared to nutritional standards developed by the Ministry of Health.
"One thing for sure, we don't have anybody here who is certified as being malnourished or anything like that," Hall told The Gleaner yesterday.
"We send our people out to other medical institutions across the city and we don't have any such reports so we are satisfied that the quality of our meals are up to mark and that our people are being taken care of in that regard," he added.
In February, de facto information minister Daryl Vaz announced that Cabinet had approved daily rates of $209 and $254 (for inmates with special needs) to provide meals for persons at the infirmary.
The rates were set as part of a $34.4-million one-year contract awarded to Golden Age Home Kitchen Limited.
One of the directors of Golden Age Home Kitchen Limited, Mark Hosand, initially agreed to an interview, but declined minutes later, indicating that he was instructed to direct all questions to Hall.
The Vineyard Town Golden Age Home board chairman side-stepped questions about whether or not the rates were sufficient, but said the caterers, who won the contract through the bidding process, would have done their own calculations based on the nutritional standards set by the health ministry.
"Our caterers would have done their pricing too to feel satisfied that they are providing us with the standard that we have asked for at that price. They certainly wouldn't operate out of pocket," he said.
"We wrestle with the provision, but we make do with what is provided for us and we see to it that the residents are as comfortable meal-wise as they possibly can," added Hall.
He said most of the more than 400 inmates at the infirmary are fed at least three times per day. Those with special conditions such as diabetes are fed up to four times per day.