Avera Chef Tailors His Meals to Residents to Make Life Special

Little things make giant differences. Think about it with food you love. When it’s perfect – be it the side dish, the temperature of your steak or some other tiny detail – you remember that touch.

Avera Eureka Health Care Center Dietary Manager Keith Roberts focuses on all those little details. At the same time, he considers budgets, nutritional needs for residents and other factors.

“Being friendly starts with a question,” he said. “I ask every resident, see where the conversation leads.”

His question is simple: What foods do you like? What recipes do you remember you miss?

The answers often takes him back to the kitchen. His actions brighten the everyday into more, like when he’s:

• Making sure every resident got Cracker Jack^® as a snack on baseball’s opening day
• Incorporating colorful, fresh cuisine to brighten a wintery Valentine’s Day
• Whipping out the grill to cook up some favorites and interject a little feeling of summer, any time of year

When you’re a resident in a long-term care facility, your choice of activity or lunch is limited. Roberts recognizes that and makes every interaction he has with his guests something exciting.

Roberts is no greenhorn in the kitchen. He’s always loved culinary work, and he served as a chef at a wide range of restaurants, catering companies and other sites as he learned his craft. He was the hospitality lead at South Dakota’s Custer State Park facilities for many years. Roberts also worked as a leader in food and hospitality in many other locations, including time catering for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio.

All this made Roberts a natural for his daily efforts that focus on making long-term care facility residents feel like his guests at a fancy restaurant or hotel. He sees that welcome as a way to show his compassionate soul.

He puts fine dining touches into each meal, snack and more.

“Meals and activities are special things – residents look forward to them,” said Carmen Weber, administrator at Avera Eureka. “Keith’s dedicated to finding ways to make a difference.”

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“Very important persons and important persons and the rest of us, we all eat our meals the same way,” he said. “I’ve made meals, drinks or taken care of rock stars, celebrities and it doesn’t matter who they are. It’s about me making them feel welcome and heard.”

Roberts knows the ins, outs, ups and downs of the challenging industry that is hospitality. When he decided to wind down, he retired in northeastern South Dakota. Then one day in the late 2010s, Roberts noticed a job listing.

He landed the job, even though he was less familiar with serving residents in a long-term care facility.

“There are so many more similarities than differences,” he said. “I used to cater weddings, and it was so fun to tailor everything the bride and groom wanted. I use the same approach.”

Roberts said his role at Avera rewards him every day; he knows his team and leadership support the way he cares for the residents.

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Roberts is often busy slicing, sauteing and supervising, yet he makes time to learn about the culinary German and Russian heritage that his residents fondly remember.

“You don’t order a cheeseburger in Jamaica. You get jerk chicken, black beans and rice,” he said. “I try to keep that idea in mind. I ask for input.”

Some of his meals and ideas that were “big winners” include:

• Whipped up from scratch cream puffs for a special birthday.
• Prepared fresh salmon for Mother’s Day with an array of homemade sauces.
• Made a cabbage and meat pie (Halupsi) as a casserole/hotdish residents recognized right off.
• Baked homemade kuchen; another regional/state favorite.
• Added local sausage to cookouts and meals.

In addition, Roberts listens. After residents told him they missed a dish made with stewed prunes and buttered noodles, it was on the menu for Good Friday, when it’s traditionally served.

“It’s rewarding to honor traditions and learn,” he said. “Avera’s mission is what we try to serve each time we prepare a meal.” Roberts collaborates across Avera with many talented culinary departments. (He calls them the “engine room” of the health system.

Avera Recognized His Creativity and Compassion

Anyone can imagine they’ll walk into a kitchen and impress once or twice. Roberts does it daily and works within budgets and the needs of those he serves.

“Keith is a joyful coworker, and he shares that joy,” said Mary Stehly, MS, RD, LN. Stehly serves Mother Joseph Manor in Aberdeen, SD, most days, but collaborates with Roberts on nutrition and dietary planning for Avera Eureka.

“He makes sure everyone has a foundation of nutrition, but he has skills to make meals taste and look better,” Stehly said. “He brings a big-city hotel feeling to so many meals, and the residents appreciate what he does.”

Staff like it, too. “We all get fired up when he’s cooking or planning his special meals,” she added.

Weber said Roberts’ dedication led her to nominate him for an Avera Quality Congress award. Those honors lift up quality improvement projects and individuals who exemplify Avera’s values of hospitality, compassion and stewardship.

“I was shocked I won,” said Roberts, who celebrated his birthday that Aug. 9, 2023, when he garnered the award. “Ever since I got the nomination, it put more fire into my efforts.”

Read more stories about Avera employees.