Healthcare · Tool · Dinex
Bed count in, meal system out.
Licensed beds to trays, carts, chargers, and the right Dinex heat-retention system — assembled from Dinex's published selector, the federal facility-planning rules, and published installations. The one number nobody publishes is labeled as yours.
Your system, sized
A planning starting point, not a spec. Route lengths, retherm vs. cook-serve, pod service, and the dish room finish the design — that is a site walk with our healthcare specialists and Dinex, and it costs you nothing.
Where every number comes from.
The system selector is Dinex's own published rule from their induction catalog. The 75% tray share, the 20-trays-per-cart rule, and the one-cart-per-nursing-unit minimum come from the U.S. government's health-facility food service planning criteria. The 2.25–3 trays-per-minute line rate is the published industry figure, and the charger count is consistent with published Dinex installations — a 580-bed medical center running 425 trays a mealtime on three chargers. The meals-per-day planning figures come from Dinex's own published case studies (a 288-bed hospital at 660 patient meals a day; a 462-bed at 1,000) and, for long-term care, the federal three-meals-a-day requirement.
Why temperature is the real spec
Smart-Therm II holds a plate above 140°F for 45–60 minutes; DuraTherm for 60–90. The delivery route has to finish inside that window — which is why the building's layout, not the bed count, gets the final vote.
Email me these numbers
Asked every week.
How many meal delivery carts does a hospital need?
The federal facility-planning rule: divide peak tray meals by 20 trays per cart, with at least one cart per nursing unit. A 288-bed hospital with 75% of beds on tray service plans around 216 trays per meal and eleven carts — more if nursing units outnumber that, or if delivery routes run long against the plate's heat-retention window.
What size induction heating system fits my bed count?
Dinex publishes the rule: Smart-Therm II for hospitals under 250 beds or long-term care under 100 beds; DuraTherm — with its longer 60-to-90-minute hold — for larger facilities where delivery routes run longer.
How many patient meals per day should we plan per bed?
Published Dinex installations run about 2.2 to 2.3 patient meals per licensed bed per day in acute care — a 288-bed hospital serving 660, a 462-bed serving 1,000. Long-term care plans at three meals per resident per day, the federal minimum, plus nourishments.
How many bases and domes should we own?
One per tray at peak, plus a working reserve for ware in the dish room and in transit — and here honesty matters: no manufacturer publishes that reserve ratio. This planner makes it an input you control, and our healthcare team verifies it against your actual dish cycle before an order is written.
Does better meal delivery actually change outcomes?
The published figures from Dinex's parent company: hospitals moving to room-service-style delivery have documented savings of $7 to $8 per patient per day, meal costs down about 15%, plate waste down 29%, and patient intake up 17%. Temperature at the bed is where satisfaction scores live.
A tool gets you close. A person gets it right.
Every number here is a starting point, not a quote. Your Zink specialist runs these questions for a living — and checking your math costs you nothing.