Kendal introduces an exciting new flexible meal plan to meet the changing needs of the active residents of Kendal at Longwood, Crosslands, Kendal at Granville, and Kendal at Lexington. Now residents at these communities can choose between multiple meal plans: the traditional meal-a-day type or one that offers a choice of how and when meals are taken. The new plans also are available to all affiliated Kendal communities to adopt as their planning processes go forward.

The initiative for the new flexible meal plans was the result of resident and staff focus groups at each of the affiliates interested in more dining options.  One of the common themes heard during the meetings was that meal times should not restrict residents’ ability to participate in activities and events. When residents go out to dinner or travel for a weekend, they wanted the flexibility to get their Kendal meals at another time. If company or family stop in and want to dine elsewhere, residents want to be able to eat out without losing a Kendal meal---something that would happen on the traditional plan.

All of the new plan choices give residents the flexibility of eating any meal or even multiple meals per day, thus allowing even the busiest residents to travel or eat out without missing a meal from the standard meal-a-day plan. Positive comments have been heard from residents who have opted for the new flexible plan; they find they are able to plan ahead knowing they can take the 25 or 30 meals around their traveling and away schedule or their evening out.

Kendal at Longwood and Crosslands offers 25 meals per month, Kendal at Granville is offering 30 meals per month, and Kendal at Lexington, as part of its new café design, opted for 350 declining dining points to be used like dollars. At Lexington, these points can be used for any dining options, guest meals or catering. Residents may choose to join the flexible meal option or return to a traditional meal plan during enrollment periods which vary by community, but usually are scheduled quarterly.

The design and implementation of this program required sustained effort from a diverse team since it called for a new way to track meals and record the transactions in the billing software. It wasn’t always an easy process getting the meal count program and the billing program to work together, but thanks to the support of the dining directors and their staff, accounting, and the Information Technology staff at Kendal Corporation, the new flexible meal plans are a resounding success.