Oak Hammock at the University of Florida had a problem. The senior living provider out of Gainesville, Florida, needed to fix its dining program, especially in its skilled nursing units, as manual processes and missing or incomplete meal tickets were causing residents to not receive their correct meals. Oak Hammock’s dining committee that met every few weeks became a cause of frustration for SNF residents and anxiety for staff.

Then in February 2024, Oak Hammock found Mealtime Solutions from PointClickCare and their story changed quickly and completely. They have not yet implemented Mealtime Solutions in their independent living, and the dining committee meetings press on. They implemented Mealtime Solutions in their SNFs and assisted living and eliminated the committee completely.

“We do still meet with residents, of course, but now it’s all about celebrating dining,” says Sonja Donlin, Health Care Administrator at Oak Hammock. “Now, instead of us talking about what went wrong, we are talking about what special meals residents want.”

Mealtime Solutions is an all-in-one foodservice management technology powered by MealSuite to help skilled nursing facilities coordinate end-to-end foodservice operations. Oak Hammock has seen a host of incredible outcomes, including 95% tray accuracy. Here is a look at how Oak Hammock has turned its dining program into a singularly great experience for residents and staff.

What Oak Hammock needed — and what they found

For many senior care providers, even in 2025, the challenge of replacing pen-and-paper systems with technology remains. Oak Hammock was seeing that problem every day. Manual processes in their dining program were causing errors and delays. After breakfast, staff members would go to residents either in their rooms or at their tables in the dining room and ask them for their lunch orders, writing their choices on their meal tickets.

“That’s where we had the potential for errors to happen,” Donlin says. “If they accidentally wrote somebody’s selections on somebody else’s ticket, those were the areas that we were having challenges.”

The results were problematic. On the health side, dietary restrictions and nutritional needs were often not met. On the experience side, too many times, residents simply were not getting what they ordered. Or they were getting the meal but not the sides or condiments.

“We were looking for a product that could help us with eliminating the errors by eliminating the manual manpower,” she says. They found that option in Mealtime Solutions, where they could work with PointClickCare to build the program they needed. Among the benefits that the system provided:

• Default resident preferences. Residents can always update their preferences, but the system gives staff members a shortcut to ensuring that people get exactly what they want.
• Automatic condiment settings. Something small like making sure that a cheeseburger comes with ketchup and mustard can make a huge difference for residents.
• Family member participation. For residents who are unable to pick their own meals, the portal lets family members select food for their loved ones.

“That was wonderful because previously, we did not have that opportunity, and if family members did not pick their meals for them ahead of time we were doing our best to select things that we thought that the resident would prefer based on their preferences,” Donlin says. “With this, we are able to save a lot of time.”

95% resident satisfaction, one repurposed FTE, and other outcomes

Time wasn’t the only savings.

With the Mealtime Solutions platform, Oak Hammock saw a number of powerful outcomes, including:

• 95% tray accuracy. This significantly reduced errors and improved meal quality.
• Repurposed an FTE. By eliminating manual work which often led to duplication of orders, Oak Hammock could free up an employee and put them to better use.
• 30-minute chart review savings per admission. This is time saved by automatically flagging allergies and preferences, reducing corrections.
• 95% resident satisfaction. Prior to implementing Mealtime Solutions, Oak Hammock’s resident satisfaction was around 45-50%, Donlin says.

“Accuracy was the biggest problem,” she says. “So this was a huge piece that made it all click for the staff.”

The implementation has demanded a heavy lift from their dietitian and dietary manager. Those professionals have been working hand in hand with staff members to make sure that everything rolls out smoothly.

The rewards, needless to say, have been worth every bit of effort.

“It’s been a game-changer in skilled nursing,” Donlin says. “Before, someone would say they ordered “this” and they got “this” — it’s so deflating. Now, staff members walk with their heads held high. They’re proud of the job they’re doing and they’re getting compliments from residents. It’s nice to share thank you notes with them. Some residents even call them out by name that they were exceptional. That’s a huge win for staff morale.”

This Views article is sponsored by PointClickCare. To discover how Mealtime Solutions can help your organization deliver results like those achieved by Oak Hammock, click here.