For Immediate Release:
October 25, 2012

Southcoast wins Silver Medal at "Best of the Best" hospital chef's competition

Pictured left to right: (top row) Michael Bachstein, Vice President of Facilities, Development and Engineer for Southcoast Health System; Jeff Laureanno, Executive Chef of Tobey Hospital; Andrew Zalisk, Executive Chef of St. Luke's Hospital; Greg Deliberis, Director of Southcoast Food & Nutrition; (middle row) Robbin Sadlers, Catering Manager for Southcoast Health System; Michael Cogliandro, Manager of Southcoast Food & Nutrition; Shauna Spillane, Patient Services Manger at Charlton Memorial Hospital; (front row) Beverly Thompson, Manager of the Charlton Memorial Hospital Cafeteria; Michelle Realejo, Patient Services Manger at St. Luke's Hospital.

BOSTON — Southcoast Health System™'s Food & Nutrition team took home the Silver Medal in the Second Annual "Best of the Best" Culinary Competition at the Massachusetts Health Council's 2012 Annual Awards event held at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

The competition took place October 17 during the council's annual awards event where 10 executive chefs from the health care industry, along with their teams, "out dished" each other by creating signature appetizers to be titled the "Best Chef in the Massachusetts' Health Care Industry."

All teams nominated to participate in the event were asked to prepare 500 portions of a "tasting" size appetizer of their choice, with each portion weighing four to five ounces. The dish could not contain any trans fats while less than 10 percent of the total calories could come from saturated fat.

The Silver Medal winner of the culinary competition was Southcoast Health System's Food & Nutrition team with a dish titled "Tapas de Mar y Tierra," or "Appetizer from Land & Sea." The dish featured a jalapeno ancho glazed beef tenderloin paired with a saffron couscous lobster cake topped with a cognac butternut drizzle served with a touch of micro greens to cleanse the pallet.

"We were honored to be part of this event for the second year in a row," said Michael Cogliandro, Manager of Southcoast's Food & Nutrition department. "It's a wonderful opportunity to bring food and nutrition at hospitals to the forefront and to showcase how food can taste good and be healthy at the same time. We had a great time coming up with our dish. It was a great team building experience and we look forward to competing again next year."

The competition celebrates the mission of the Massachusetts Health Council, which is to promote healthy living in Massachusetts, in our schools, in the workplace and our communities and in our personal lives. Southcoast first attended this competition in 2011, winning the Gold Medal.

"This unique competition underscores the skill and artistry of Massachusetts health care system chefs," said Susan Servais, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Council. "The competition was yet again a highlight of our Awards Gala's cocktail reception. Each chef team demonstrated that hospital food could be delicious, healthy and attractive."

Competitors included:

• Atria Senior Living.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
• Brigham and Women's Hospital.
• Boston Children's Hospital Boston.
• Hebrew SeniorLife.
• Healthcare Services Group.
• Holy Family Hospital.
• Lahey Clinic.
• Massachusetts General Hospital.
• Southcoast Health System.

At the event, the Massachusetts Health Council presented awards to Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, Director of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital; James B. Conway, Principal of Governance and Executive Leadership at Pascal Metrics and Adjunct Faculty at Harvard School of Public Health; Karen Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, President of the American Nurses Association; Gary Hirshberg, Co-Founder and Chairman of Stonyfield Farms; James Roosevelt Jr., President & CEO of Tufts Health Plan, and to John Hancock for its support of community health programs. Pam Cross, award-winning television news reporter and anchor for WCVB-TV Channel 5 News, directed the evening's events.

About the Massachusetts Health Council

Massachusetts Health Council is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide organization of more than 150 governmental and voluntary agencies, consumer and advocacy groups, professional societies, and private corporations committed to improving and protecting the health of the residents of the Commonwealth. For more information, visit www.mahealthcouncil.org.