New state mandates are requiring the Schuylkill County Office of Senior Services to hire a full-time dietitian to supervise the 500 daily meals served by the agency, and make sure kitchen facilities meet regulations.

On Wednesday, county commissioners gave the nod for the agency to seek bids for the new position.The dietitian will work as a contractor, and so will not be a county employee, said OSS Director Georgene Fedoriska.The office supplies meals through its senior centers, adult day care centers, to Meals on Wheels and other venues.The dietitian will make sure the meals, which arrive frozen and are heated at the centers, are kept cold enough and heated thoroughly. He or she will also have a hand in menu planning and inspect kitchen facilities at all the locations.He or she will also educate staff, providers and participants."This is something a little different for us, so we'll be growing with it," Fedoriska said.Sealed bids for the service are to be submitted to the county Controller's office, located in the courthouse, at 401 N. Second St., Pottsville, by 3 p.m. April 13.The bids will be opened at the commissioners' work session on April 15.The new state rules were handed down Jan. 1.Nearly 1 million meals are provided for those over age 60 each month throughout the state, said department of aging spokeswoman Christina Reese.The meals are provided through Title III of the Older American Act to promote better health and well-being for older individuals through improved nutrition."Recently the department updated (its) policy/ directive on meal requirements for Area Agencies on Aging to use in providing meals through their meal program (such as congregate meals) and home-delivered (meals," Reese said."The new policy applies to Area Agencies on Aging, AAA staff and AAA contractors or vendors responsible for the administration of the department's funded nutrition programs including congregate meals at senior centers (in a group setting), home-delivered and adult day service meals," she said.Under the new policy, the dietitian is to provide nutrition monitoring twice a year for each type of meal served. The purpose of the nutrition monitoring is to assure that each part of the program is receiving what it pays for good food, being served hot and clean, providing the nutrients required, and liked by a majority of consumers.The food service company's dietitian will no longer be able to monitor, since self-monitoring is seen as a potential conflict of interest, Reese said.Addressing the cost of the mandated dietitian, Reese said that four annual monitoring visits would be required for a program offering a traditional congregate meal and a traditional home-delivered meal."For example: a dietitian would take about three hours per program and the average consulting rate would be about $50 per hour. So the total annual cost could be about $600 plus mileage," she said.The new policy/directive requires the AAA to use an independent dietitian or a contractor's dietitian to approve menus to insure that they meet the state and federal defined guidelines for congregate and home-delivered meals, and if the program employs a food service vendor, the food service company's dietitian can continue to approve menus and there would not be a new incurred cost."For Schuylkill, it appears the AAA has a contracted vendor for meals," Reese said. "That vendor may continue to approve menus and develop education sessions. The only new cost would be for the monitoring conducted by the independent dietitian."