I am sure many have heard in the last few weeks that there have been some changes in our food services at Dow Rummel. A couple changes we have made include:
1) Per guidelines from the Center for Disease Control, we have changed from a communal dining experience to room service for most of our residents in the nursing home (health care center) and assisted living centers (Village South and Village East). We have done this so as to allow for more physical distancing between residents and minimize resident exposure to more people than necessary.
2) With this change, we also revised our menu to help us ensure everyone is getting a nutritional meal three times a day during this time of Covid-19 crisis. In order to ensure this, we are offering our meal special of the day and a choice of an alternative entrée to all our residents. We went from a special of the day and a full restaurant style menu offering 28 entrées plus side choices to only 2 entrees. We made these changes because of the staffing challenges that we were seeing. We have staff out for longer periods of time due to the need to self-quarantine as a precaution or staff choosing to take a leave due to personal reasons. We recognize that this is a big change for everyone. However, we appreciate everyone’s understanding as we do our best to make sure that our residents receive nutritional balanced meals each day.
I am grateful that Dow Rummel’s Food and Nutrition Department has seen a tremendous amount of team work with in our department and in collaboration with other departments. Cooks have come out into the dining rooms to help serve. Other departments like nursing have stepped in to help take meal orders or deliver trays. It really has been a blessing to see so many people working together to ensure our residents get the very best we can offer in a time of crisis. I know these changes are not easy. My team and I had been working on new menus before all this started. We had to choose to postpone them coming out due to Covid-19. We are looking forward to rolling the new menu out once we return to normal operations. I keep reminding everyone that these changes and adjustments are only temporary. We will return to our full menu and dining experience as soon as we are able. If you have any questions, please call me at 575-0185. Thank you for your understanding and your support during this difficult time.
5/1/2020
Hello, My name is Mary Westrom and I am the Restaurant Manager for Covells Restaurant and the Deli. I am sure that many have heard in the last few weeks that there have been some changes in our food services in Covells Restaurant and Deli due to the COVID19 epidemic. A couple changes we have made to keep everyone safe include:
1) Per new ordinances from the City of Sioux Falls and being a restaurant licensed with the city, we have limited communal dining in the restaurant to only 10 patrons and 8 on the terrace outside the restaurant. We have done this so as to allow for more physical distancing between residents and minimize resident exposure to more people than necessary.
2) We are offering free delivery of our meals to resident apartments at no extra fee during this period of COVID19. Many residents have taken advantage of this service, thus we have seen a lot more meals going “out the door” than we did previously when more patrons were eating in the restaurant.
3) We are asking patrons of the deli to physically distance themselves 6 feet apart when waiting for food or to be served.
Some things to look forward include:
1) Debuting May 1, 2020, we will have a new Spring/Summer menu with some new menu selections.
2) Debuting May 1, 2020, we will also have a new deli menu with some options available.
As we continue to work through changes, recommendations, and new expectations related to COVID19, we will communicate additional changes when the time comes. If you have any questions, please call me at 575-0274. Thank you for your continued service and support of Covells Restaurant and Deli.