PBMC honored for culinary excellence by Slow Food East End

Toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Forker Ralph Reinertsen checked into Peconic Bay Medical Center PBMC in Riverhead twice for hip replacements. His patient experience during each visit, he said, was positive thanks in large part to the food.

Mr. Reinertsen returned to the hospital Tuesday not as a patient but as a member of Slow Food East End — the local chapter of the global grassroots organization started in Italy in 1986 to promote access to “good, clean and fair food for all,” according to its website — to award the hospital with the organization’s prestigious Snail of Approval award.

“I left here both times in such a positive manner,” he said during a ceremony at the hospital. “I was treated better than at some restaurants. The food was — that’s the criteria we use — the food was Manhattan good.”

The Snail of Approval award is bestowed on businesses that represent the Slow Food East End’s ideals and calls attention to food-related enterprises — restaurants, farms and food producers — that excel in two or more of the following areas: sourcing, environmental impact, cultural connection, community involvement, staff support or business values.

This year, Slow Food, which is represented in 160 countries, has made a concentrated effort to give out more awards, said Sunita Narma, its vice chair of communications.

“It’s obviously about the food but it’s also about their employee practices and what they’re doing with the hospital,” Ms. Narma said. “Obviously the hospital is getting recognition for their medical work, but I think it’s great to be able to also focus on the food as nutrition aspect of it.”

Peconic Bay Medical Center is the only health care facility in the nation to receive this award, according to a hospital press release.

Mr. Reinertsen, who chairs the Snail of Approval award, nominated the hospital after his terrific experience. He outlined the rigorous vetting process the organization goes through before honoring an institution with the award. The first step, he said, is vetting the nominator.

“Then we interview the possible recipient,” Mr. Reinertsen said. “Unknown to them, we also interview workers and customers. I write up an evaluation and submit it to the board, then I submit it to national.”

Peconic Bay Medical Center’s executive chef Chris Singlemann said earning this award has been a team effort.

“I have an incredible culinary staff that has worked with me and has supported me, incredible dietary aides,” he said. “No one does it alone.”

Mr. Singlemann thanked specific Northwell Health leaders for the support and touted their hard work, including chef Bruno Tison, one of three Michelin-starred chefs working at Northwell Health, and senior vice president and chief experience officer Sven Gierlinger.

“We just had our culinary nutrition meeting and I told everyone in the meeting that we just happened to have Ralph in our hospital,” Mr. Singlemann said, “but if he was in another [Northwell] hospital, the same award would have been given. This is just what is happening throughout this system and it’s phenomenal to be a part of it.”

Mr. Gierlinger told the audience that the effort to improve the culinary experience for everyone at Peconic Bay Medical Center started eight years ago.

“We were in the bottom of the bottom. The bar was really low for hospital food and we were probably there,” he said. “We were in the ninth percentile and today, with chef Bruno’s efforts and these amazing chefs and dietitians, we are in the 84th percentile for the entire company.”

While congratulating the chefs and dietitians and thanking Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling, Mr. Gierlinger added that he is “extraordinarily proud of Peconic Bay. It’s an incredible hospital, it serves amazing food.”

“We strive to be excellent in everything we do and food has been neglected for so many years in hospitals, unfortunately,” he added. “So many patients in this country right now and across the world are getting food that is really substandard and it’s our goal to change that.”

Mr. Gierlinger noted that PBMC also won Northwell Health’s annual Chefs Challenge in 2022. The competition started 13 years ago and is a “Top Chef”-style competition that asks chefs to cook a three-course meal they might serve to patients. This year, competing chefs had 90 minutes to create an appetizer using rainbow beets, an entrée with wild monkfish and a dessert with dried prunes. This year’s winning chef, from Phelps Hospital in Westchester County, got an all-expense paid trip to Napa, Calif.. Mr. Singlemann said receiving the Snail of Approval award has opened up opportunities to get more involved in the community.

“We’re doing a lot,” he said. “We have a master beekeeper that we’ve incorporated into our hospital. We have two beehives and we’re producing our own honey on the property. We have a culinary farm that we just collaborated with to do a dinner and it’s just continuing to open up more and more. Being part of the community is what Peconic Bay is all about.”