Piedmont Cafeteria, Dietary Kitchen Rebound on Health Inspections

special dietary kitchen and cafeteria received high scores from Fulton County health inspectors Wednesday after receiving failing grades in a previous inspection.

The kitchen at which food is prepared for patients received a grade of 89, B, in the second inspection after receiving a 61 on April 12, according to the health inspector's report. The hospital's food service leadership "does take issue with the score of 89 and will be formally discussing it with the health inspector," a statement on the hospital's Web site said.

"We do not believe one item on there was  a violation of code," hospital spokesman Jim Taylor said. 

 Taylor said  the unit prepares food cooked to order for patients with special needs such as diabetics.

The hospital's cafeteria, which received a 68 score on April 12, got a 95, A, Wednesday, according to the health inspector's report.

Taylor said the hospital had never scored under 94 in previous inspections. Taylor said the hospital requested that the second inspection come sooner than the usual 10 days.

After the previous failing scores, Mark Galvin, the hospital's director of nutrition and food services, said in a letter posted on the website, "for a hospital that is known for good food, this is a distressing blemish on what has consistently been a high quality service."

Keeping dairy products past expiration dates and undercooking meats and poultry contributed to an unsatisfactory grade for Piedmont Hospital food services, according to state records detailing the April 12 inspection, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

The hospital's water pavilion, not previously inspected, received a score of 96, A, on Wednesday.

 View the full Food Service Establishment Inspection Report.