St. John’s is getting straight A’s when it comes to its health inspections: the dining areas in Taffner Field House and the University Center recently passed with perfect scores.

According to Ken Waldhof, executive director of Auxiliary Services, the point system begins at a zero (a perfect score) and as infractions are found, the number of points increases.

“As much as we anticipate good scores from these smaller dining units an inspection resulting in a score of zero points cited is an achievement,” he said.

The New York City Department of Health conducts these inspections at random, without any notices given beforehand.
Waldhof was pleased with the scores that the dining areas received.

“We have had perfect scores before, but to have two days in a row of perfect scores, that was pretty nice to see,” he said.
Waldhof explained the difficulty of receiving perfect scores for these health inspections.

“They look for more than just food. They check the walls, the ceilings, cabinets, everywhere,” he said. “So, all our food products may be at the right temperature but there may be water on the floor in the staff kitchen or a hole in the wall and we’ll lose points there. Or the milk for the coffee may be too warm and we’ll lose points.”

Waldhof cited the work of Chartwells as the main reason for the perfect scores.

“Basically, when Chartwells came in, they made [health inspections] one of their big priorities,” he said. “They have an independent company that they pay to bring in to do their own inspections. If they find anything wrong, it is corrected immediately.”