Wellness Town, USA

Hospitals have never been a tourist draw, and most people dread the experience. So why has Henry Ford Health System hired a Ritz-Carlton executive to design and operate a medical center that offers organic food, promotes healthier lifestyles, and deep-sixes deep-fat fryers?

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Soon after longtime Ritz-Carlton executive Gerard van Grinsven was appointed president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System’s West Bloomfield Hospital project, he heard through a colleague that the new culinary team was meeting to plan the kitchen layout and menu selections. While no one thought to invite van Grinsven, who had overseen worldwide food and beverage offerings at the Ritz-Carlton for several years, including serving as general manager of the luxury chain’s Dearborn hotel from 2002 to 2006, he cast aside his meticulous social graces born from thousands of personal greetings, and decided to invite himself.

Slipping into the meeting unannounced, van Grinsven listened intently as a culinary team leader explained that the kitchen would feed hundreds of patients, employees, and visitors daily. “That part is correct,” van Grinsven thought. But what happened next alarmed him. “The team explained that there would be dozens of deep-fat fryers and a large amount of cubic freezer space,” he recalls. “At that moment, I started thinking about greasy French fries and chicken fingers, frozen food that would be thawed and served, and God knows what else. And is that really what we should be serving sick people [who] are in the midst of healing? It made no sense.”

Stepping forward to introduce himself, van Grinsven refused to blame anyone directly for following the standard operating procedures of nearly every hospital in the world. Rather, it was at that moment that he set out to turn the entire hospital system on its ear. Instead of building a facility centered on curing people of illness, disease, or complicated maladies like obesity or smoking, the West Bloomfield hospital, set to open March 15, would promote wellness at every turn. That meant, as his culinary staff soon learned, that there would no deep-fat fryers or freezers, save for a modest unit that would be used to house sorbet. “Ladies and gentlemen,” van Grinsven, 44, announced in his rich Dutch accent, “we are going to transform the hospital system for the betterment of the human race, and it starts right here.”

So how does a former hospitality executive with no medical background — he earned a bachelor’s of science from The Hotel Management School in Maastricht, The Netherlands — take on the daunting task of building a world-class hospital?

“Gerard wasn’t on my radar screen when we first started planning West Bloomfield, but he was on one of our boards, and I observed he was a tremendous leader,” recalls Nancy Schlichting, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. “He came to me one day and asked about some career advice, and he said he was attracted to health care, and even then I didn’t think of him. But it eventually occurred to me that he had the skill set to transform traditional hospital thinking and really embrace wellness. I just didn’t know he would excel at it.”

Mindful that he was charged, in part, by Schlichting to build a brand more powerful and recognizable than Google or the Mayo Clinic, van Grinsven kept an unusually low profile in 2006, the first year of his appointment. He used the time to pore over nutritional research, especially as it concerned food grown organically or via hydroponics. He also studied holistic healing practices like acupuncture and water therapy, as well as theories regarding indoor noise and natural light levels, and the latest in telecommunications equipment — research that convinced him to broadcast specific medical information to Internet-enabled televisions in each of the hospital’s 192 private rooms (with the ability to expand to 450 rooms in the future).

He also embarked on an arduous travel schedule. Close to home, he tapped into the private archives of automotive pioneer Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Co. and Henry Ford Hospital, for information on wellness. Having grown up on a farm in Dearborn, Ford developed a life-long passion for nutrition. Van Grinsven also visited organic farms in Michigan and the Midwest, sat down with nutritional experts, interviewed thought leaders and health care experts, and consulted financial experts to ascertain how the new facility could generate profits that would assist Henry Ford’s entire hospital network. The latter goal comes amid a medical environment known for strict cost controls such as set reimbursements for most procedures.

To transcend the fixed-cost environment as well as to provide cutting-edge services, van Grinsven developed a slew of novel ideas. For the 1,100 jobs the hospital will create (there will be 2,300 medical professionals overall), he had applicants — including those from Henry Ford Health System — undergo testing and interviews to ensure that they would excel in a nurturing, team environment. Perfection in such a setting was critical, given that there’s often little or no reimbursement for a second operation to fix an initial procedure. Better information-sharing, excellent communication practices, and electronic medical records are designed to limit mistakes and boost efficiency. “Seventy percent of medical errors happen due to poor or limited communication,” van Grinsven says. “We believe we will be well below that average.”

As for food services, van Grinsven knew that serving nutritional fare was an expensive proposition. So he tapped one of the region’s top chefs, Matt Prentice, and reached an agreement to hire aspiring culinary experts from Schoolcraft College in Livonia. The hospital will provide what is believed to be the world’s first culinary learning institute for health care. The plan was ingenious on two fronts — the students would learn to select and prepare healthier foods, skills they could utilize in their ongoing professional careers, and they wouldn’t command top salaries. The effort also meant that the food would be prepared and priced competitively, especially as the hospital will make a big drive to draw surrounding residents to take advantage of its various wellness offerings and classes, as well as Henry’s — the restaurant inside the new complex that Prentice will operate.

In addition, van Grinsven laid out plans to add a greenhouse to the complex to grow nutritional food such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots, some of which will be prepped and served at Henry’s. The greenhouse, scheduled to open in May, will also be an educational draw for school groups, senior clubs, and other visitors eager to learn about organic farming practices and how better nutrition leads to healthier lives. It also means patients will be happier, given that studies have consistently shown that healthy food boosts healing rates.

Other decisions broke from the past, as well. Healthy snacks and natural sodas will be offered at every turn, including fresh and bottled juices, purified water, protein drinks, organic teas, and gourmet coffee. Cereal bars, healthy chocolates, and other nutritious offerings will replace candy bars. Canned food will be limited, while the use of fat, salt, and processed sugar will be curtailed as much as possible.

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