R9-10-615. Food Services for a Hospice Inpatient Facility

A. An administrator of a hospice inpatient facility shall ensure that: 1. Meals and snacks provided by the hospice inpatient facility are served according to a patient’s dietary needs and preferences; 2. Meals and snacks for each day are planned using: a. The applicable most recent dietary guidelines according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and b. Preferences for meals and snacks obtained from patients; 3. A patient requiring assistance to eat is provided with assistance that recognizes the patient’s nutritional, physical, and social needs, including the use of adaptive eating equipment or utensils; and 4. Water is available and accessible to patients at all times, unless otherwise stated in a patient’s care plan. B. An administrator of a hospice inpatient facility shall ensure that food is obtained, prepared, served, and stored as follows: 1. Food is free from spoilage, filth, or other contamination and is safe for human consumption; 2. Food is protected from potential contamination; 3. Food is prepared: a. Using methods that conserve nutritional value, flavor, and appearance; and b. In a form to meet the needs of a patient, such as cut, chopped, ground, pureed, or thickened; 4. Potentially hazardous food is maintained as follows: a. Foods requiring refrigeration are maintained at 41° F or below; b. Foods requiring cooking are cooked to heat all parts of the food to a temperature of at least 145° F for 15 seconds, except that: i. Ground beef and ground meats are cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least 155° F; ii. Poultry, poultry stuffing, stuffed meats, and stuffing that contains meat are cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least 165° F; iii. Pork and any food containing pork are cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least 155° F; iv. Raw shell eggs for immediate consumption are cooked to at least 145° F for 15 seconds and any food containing raw shell eggs is cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least 155 °F; v. Roast beef and beef steak are cooked to an internal temperature of at least 155° F; and vi. Leftovers are reheated to a temperature of at least 165° F; 5. A refrigerator contains a thermometer, accurate to plus or minus 3° F, at the warmest part of the refrigerator; 6. Frozen foods are stored at a temperature of 0° F or below; and 7. Tableware, utensils, equipment, and food-contact surfaces are clean and in good repair. C. An administrator shall ensure that: 1. For a hospice inpatient facility with a licensed capacity of more than 20 beds, the hospice inpatient facility: a. Has a license or permit as a food establishment under 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 1, and b. Maintains a copy of the hospice inpatient facility’s food establishment license or permit; 2. If the hospice inpatient facility contracts with food establishment, as defined in 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 1, to prepare and deliver food to the hospice inpatient facility a copy of the contracted food establishment’s license or permit under 9 A.A.C. 8, Article 1 is maintained by the hospice inpatient facility; and 3. Food is stored, refrigerated, and reheated to meet the dietary needs of a patient.