The Department of Nutrition and Food Services provides nutritious and comprehensive food services along with nutritional assessment and education of exceptional quality and value. The department is committed to maintaining accessible, compassionate patient services and exceptional employees who maintain close collaboration with physicians, other patient-care providers and departments. It is top priority to provide patients with up-to-date educational materials.

The Department of Nutrition and Food Services is managed by Morrison Healthcare Food Services, a division of Compass Group North America. The partnership with UT Medical Center has been maintained for 25 years. The management team includes a food service director, associate food service director, clinical nutrition manager, patient services manager and retail managers.

Patient satisfaction with meal service is of utmost importance. Hospitality Assistants provide individual meal delivery service, assist with daily menu selections and serve as key contact persons to the food service department and clinical staff.

Resources for Good Nutrition
Nutritional Consultation
Medical Genetics Nutritional Consultation
Nutrition and Food Services Staff
Contact the Department of Nutrition and Food Services
Healthy Living Kitchen Cooking Classes
Recipes

Resources for Good Nutrition

Whether you are a new mother, an athlete or have been diagnosed with cancer or diabetes, good nutrition is key to maintaining your health. The nutritional resources on the following page will enable you to make well-informed nutritional needs decisions.

Nutritional Consultation

The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s clinical nutrition services department offers individualized, professional nutritional counseling. This service emphasizes making healthy nutrition a part of everyday.

Because each individual has different nutritional needs, it is beneficial to work with a registered dietitian who will create a customized program just for you. Among some of the plans you can develop are: managing weight, lowering blood cholesterol, reducing triglyceride levels, preventing or slowing the development of diabetes. Counseling sessions include the following.

• Analysis of current dietary selections and cooking methods
• Recommendation for personal nutritional requirements
• Tips for dining out and smarter supermarket shopping
• Tools to track your progress on a daily basis
• Tasty, low-fat recipes

If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with an outpatient dietitian, please contact healthcare coordination at 865.305.6970 to request an appointment.

Medical Genetics Nutritional Services

Medical Genetics Nutritional Services makes nutritional evaluation available for patients of all ages. The goal is to help the client and his family to achieve adequate nutritional status when faced with a particular physical and/or environmental condition.

Nutrition and Food Services Staff

The department supports a clinical dietetic staff comprised of eight qualified dietitians who are registered or registration-eligible with the Commission on Dietetic Registration. The dietitians also are licensed through the state of Tennessee. Registered Dietitians are food and nutrition experts, translating the science of nutrition into practical solutions for healthy livingSome of the staff have additional specialty certifications, including three with certification in Diabetes Education (CDE) and one with certification in Nutrition Support (CNSD). There also are three dietetic technicians who possess a B.S. degree in nutrition. 

Clinical nutrition services available to both inpatients and outpatients include diet education and nutrition assessment and monitoring. Employees are active members of multi-disciplinary patient care teams in both inpatient and outpatient settings and participate as preceptors for the dietetic internship program. The following clinical areas are covered by Clinical Nutrition Services.

Clinical Dietitians also reside in other departments within the facility, including Family Medicine, Neonatology, Genetics and a Metabolic Support team in the department of Pharmacy.

Contact the Department of Nutrition

Department of Nutrition
University of Tennessee Medical Center
1924 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, TN 37920
865.305.9181