The kitchen at Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, MA is running itself to success. With nearly 50 employees working for the AJH Food Service, it is able to run every day for 15 hours a day, providing three meals to patients and staff, 365 days of the year. Without them, the hospital would not be able to run.

The kitchen is run by Sodexo, the number one leader in “Quality of Life Services.” According to Sodexo, this refers to “the general wellbeing of individuals, is a central and evolving issue in many environments, from the workplace, to schools, to hospitals, to life in general.”
Although the kitchen is technically run by Sodexo, food, plates, silverware, etc are purchased through other distributors such as U.S. Foods. In fact you’ve probably seen one of their trucks right in your area too. They are one of the biggest food distributors in this country and they deliver to kitchens from coast to coast. One thing that Sodexo does provide for us is our recipes. Every recipe used at AJH is pulled from Sodexo including cafe food and patient food.
You may be wondering who are the brains behind this operation. But believe it or not, there are just two who are in charge of this kitchen: Mark Kelly and Alan Bythewood. Both working for sodexo, they spend their days working diligently to keep the kitchen running, Bythewood especially, creating the schedules, handling sick calls, and hiring new employees.
With 50 employees, it makes for a massive operation that acts almost as an assembly line. Now, not all the 50 employees work at once. For each meal (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) different people are assigned to many different positions. Here is a list of positions and their duties for each meal period.

Position Number Shift Length Main Duties
#1
4am- 1pm
Cook- cafe lunch, prep
#2
8am-4:15pm
Cook- cafe lunch prep
#3
10:45am- 7:15pm
Cook meals for patients during lunch, make hot food for cafe at dinner
#4
6:30am-2:30pm
Assemble trays during lunch
#5
5am-1pm

#6
7:30am-9:30am
Delivers trays
#7
7:30am-3:30pm
Dishwasher
#8
6:30am-2:30pm
Delivers trays
#9
10:45am- 7:15pm
Dishwasher- night
#10
6:00am-2:00pm
Run register and hot line during breakfast, register at lunch
#11
6:30am-2:00pm
Stock Cafeteria and Psych Unit
#12
Weekdays= 10:45am-7:15pm
Weekends= 4pm-7:15pm
Run register and hot food line during lunch and dinner
#13 & #15
4:15pm-7:15pm
Deliver trays to patients during dinner
#14
4:15pm-7:15pm
Assemble trays for dinner
#16
2:30pm-7:15pm
Assemble trays for dinner
#17
2:30pm-7:15pm
Cook meals for patients for dinner
#18
4:15pm-7:15pm
Make sandwiches for patients during dinner
#19
4:15pm-7:15pm
Work in dishroom
#20
6:00am-2:00pm
Deliver trays, catering
#21
6:30-3:00
Take (over the phone) orders
#22 10:45am-7:15pm Take (over the phone) orders
But is hospital food even good? It may not sound appealing, but believe me, it may be some of the best food you’ve ever had. Every single meal is cooked to perfection, for the patients and even the staff food on the hot line. You may not choose to eat any of the items we have in the cafe, but dont sweat! You can also place orders for grilled cheese, pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, french fries and more! Along with that, the cafe offers a salad and deli bar where you can build your own meal. All prices of the deli and salad bar are recorded by weight.
As far as prices go for the hot line, an average meal will cost you around $5.00 which is an outstanding price considering how divine the food is.
If you haven’t already been to eat at Anna Jaques I highly suggest you give it a try. Or better yet, apply today! 50 employees may seem like a lot, but we are always in need of help and you are pretty much guaranteed a job. As a student you’ll be working weekdays 4:15-7:15, starting with delivering the trays to the patients.
Once you gain knowledge of how the kitchen works, you will be be trained on many other positions, which is what makes this job so fun and diverse.
Another perk of AJH is that you receive annual raises. Usually only some cents but if you are trained more and more and receive a new title, you may be in for an even greater raise.
“The hours are really flexible,” said Sean Hirtle, a fellow coworker at AJH. “They also promote growth at school where you may take months off to participate in sports and extracurricular activities.”
The AJH kitchen makes for a great workplace as a starter job. Good pay of minimum wage, good hours, and don’t forget, fantastic food!