Behind the Menu with Megan Denesha
Six years ago, Megan Denesha joined Team CMH as a member of the Dietary department. There was a brief detour along the way, about a year spent working in Stores, but eventually, she found her way back to the kitchen.
And that seems to be where she belongs.
Megan has always enjoyed working with food. Before coming to CMH, she worked in the kitchen and café of a family-owned farmers’ market in Port Perry, an experience that played a big role in developing her passion for food. Much of what they served was made from scratch, using fresh, farm-grown ingredients and meats that were raised and butchered in-house.
Working so closely with fresh ingredients gave Megan a real appreciation for where food comes from and the care that goes into preparing it.
That interest followed her to CMH, but over the years, her role has become about much more than preparing meals.
For Megan, one of the things that has kept her at CMH is the sense of community that comes with working in a smaller hospital.
“You get to know the people around you,” she told Jeff.
It is something she values about coming to work each day, knowing the people around her and feeling like everyone, regardless of their role or department, is part of the same team.
Much of Megan’s work happens in a part of the hospital that people may not always think about until they need it. But spend a little time with her in the kitchen and it quickly becomes clear how much goes into the work, and how many people it touches.
For patients, a meal is part of their care. Good food can support recovery, provide a little bit of familiarity during a hospital stay and offer a chance to sit and eat with a visiting family member.
For staff, the cafeteria can be something different altogether: a chance to sit down, recharge, and catch up with colleagues during a busy day.
Megan sees both as part of the experience people have at CMH.
She has also put her own stamp on that experience.
One thing staff may not realize is that Megan creates the cafeteria menu herself. She pays attention to what people enjoy, listens to suggestions, sees what works, and what perhaps doesn’t work quite as well, and keeps trying new ideas.
That opportunity to make something better is one of the things she is most proud of.
There is creativity in it too, which is something Megan enjoys about her role. There is plenty of routine in a hospital kitchen, but there is also room to experiment, solve problems and try something different.
Her interest in food doesn’t stop when she leaves CMH. Megan also has her own baking business, something family and friends encouraged her to pursue after seeing both her talent for it and how much she enjoyed it.
They talked about cooking around different themes, Jeff’s fondness for Indian food and the idea that food can be more than the finished dish, preparing it and sharing it can be part of the experience too.
It is an idea that fits well with how Megan sees her own work.
When asked which CMH value resonates most with her, Megan chose Better Together.
In Dietary, everyone has their own responsibilities, but the work depends on people communicating, adapting and stepping in for one another when needed. That teamwork extends beyond the kitchen as well. Megan pointed to the relationship between Dietary and the Inpatient Unit as an example of different teams working together to make sure patients get what they need.
She also sees our Act Responsibly value reflected in the work her team does every day.
In Dietary, doing the job properly matters even when nobody else sees it happening. Managing allergies and dietary restrictions, preparing the right meals and making sure patients receive nutritious food that supports their recovery all carry a responsibility that goes well beyond what arrives on the tray.
That is perhaps what becomes most apparent after spending some time with Megan.
There are parts of her job everyone sees, the cafeteria menu, the food on the counter, the meal arriving in a patient’s room. But behind each of those things is a lot of thought, creativity, teamwork and responsibility.
Six years after first walking into CMH’s Dietary department, Megan is still finding ways to try something new, make something better and contribute to the positive experience of the patients, families and colleagues around her.
