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AHF 2024 Annual Conference

August 23-25, 2024 | San Antonio, Texas

The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) National Conference is the largest national gathering of self-operated facilities, operators, vendors, and professionals in the healthcare and senior dining industries. Join us for our 2024 Annual Conference in San Antonio for critical take-aways, memorable networking, inspirational content, and so much more. 

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About The AHF 2024 National Conference

Self Operated Excellence

Operators will enjoy a conference with a world-class tradeshow, innovative and curated content that leaves them prepared for what comes next, and new connections. The conference will cover topics including (but not limited to) leadership, food traceability, AI, robotics, technology, C-suite insights, cultural competence, sustainability, supply chain management, revenue growth, retail, contract management, time management, employee incentives, renovations, malnutrition, and more! AHF’s National Conference is a place for solutions and tangible takeaways where content is king and sponsors are ready to support you. AHF and its members are leading the way in healthcare, senior dining, and hospitality.

Start Planning Your Attendance Now: AHF has a number of fantastic ways to attend. Check out our operator justification template letter below to help make the case to your administrators as to why AHF’s National Conference is an investment for your facility and staff. Submit the letter now to your administrators to gain early approval. Also, be sure to check out our scholarships, apply for an AHF Award, apply for the Culinary Competition for additional ways to attend. 

Event Schedule plan

Conference Schedule.

First Day
Second Day
Third Day

Throughout this year’s conference, AHF has championed efforts to give back and highlight charitable activities and fellow nonprofits. To kick off our charitable events, AHF is partnering with Rise Against Hunger to package 10,000+ meals. Join us on Friday morning from 9:00-11:00 am for our packaging assembly line networking event....

Pre-Conference Activity | *Registration Required – $35 10:00-11:30 AM Freetail Brewing Co. was founded in 2008 on the pursuit of creating exciting, innovative, and unique world class beer. We’re not just offering a morning beer tour for nothing! Freetail Brewing Company and the JW Marriott has partnered together to develop...

One of the top challenges multi-unit operators will face in the next 18 months is product traceability due to increasing regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Join our sponsor and presenting company, Distribution Market Advantage (DMA) and their supply chain industry leaders as they share the impact on...

We work in a busy world! And we all have different ways we tend to communicate, approach our work, lead, and interact with others in the busyness of our everyday work lives. DiSC is a personal assessment tool that helps us better understand these natural traits and preferences in ourselves...

Free Time

Enjoy a break before you join us for our opening reception or new attendee reception. See you at the party!

Are you new to AHF’s annual conference? Head over to our New Attendee Reception for an hour before our Opening Reception. This isn’t your average reception with drinks and so much chatter you can’t hear yourself think. Instead, you’ll be paired with other new attendees in small groups lead by...

Opening Reception

A fun, casual, networking event! Join us to network, chat, and get to know one another. Dinner and drinks will be provided. Thanks to our Opening Reception sponsor Hormel Foods and J.M. Smucker.

Grab some breakfast and then head into the main ballroom to snag a seat and great ready for conference. The conference opener will get you pumped to get going! Then we will present two of our annual award winners: The Exemplary Leadership Award and Future Horizons Award. Be sure to...

AHF Opening Keynote from Mike Veny

Grab some breakfast and then head into the main ballroom to snag a seat and great ready for conference. The conference opener will get you pumped to get going! Then we will present two of our annual award winners: The Exemplary Leadership Award and Future Horizons Award. Be sure to...

Networking Break

Grab a bathroom break and chat with friends and colleagues and then join us back for our next presentation. 

Awards Presentation

Celebrate and honor our national award winners as we present the Partnership in Leadership Award as well as the Spotlight Award. 

Networking Break

Grab a bathroom break and chat with friends and colleagues and then join us back at the mainstage for our next presentation. 

What is culture and why is being culturally competent so important? Diaspora to the United States continues to rapidly grow. This is radically changing the cultural norms and ethnic composition across the Nation. This session will offer both high level educational and practical applications of cultural competence and heritage to...

AHF Tradeshow & Lunch

Our annual conference tradeshow is one of our most loved conference events. Our vendors will be ready and waiting for you in the AHF Tradeshow Hall. Head over to explore new products, services, innovations, and more. Be sure to check out your Business Partner Directory in your registration bag. Lunch...

Transition Break

Grab a bathroom break and then head over to your chosen concurrent session. 

Healthcare foodservice directors and culinary teams are challenged to meet medical nutrition therapy diet restrictions and medical provider expectations on appropriate foods to serve patients. Malnutrition diagnosis by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists is now a part of standard patient care. Explore the possibility that more visually appealing and flavorful comfort foods...

Concurrent Session 4:15-5:15 PM | CEUs: 1 Speakers: Lisette Coston, RD/LD, MBA (Saint Francis Health System), Kim Alp, RD/LD, MBA (Saint Francis Health System) Saint Francis Hospital set out to create a bright, clean resort style environment in its cafeteria operation offering contemporary interior finishes with multiple food offerings. Along...

Concurrent Session 4:15-5:15 PM | CEUs: 1 Speakers: Randy Davis (NMC Health) | Anthony Baffo, PhD, CDM, CFPP (Plymouth Harbor on Sarasota Bay) Over the last half-decade, the pace of change in the world of work has been unprecedented. In healthcare, initial expectations of workplace trends arising from the Covid-19...

Free Time

Take a break and enjoy the free time before you join us for our Culinary Competition!

AHF’s Culinary Competition is a career-changing opportunity for our competing member teams. Five teams of three are selected from self-operated facilities around the country.

Join our instructor for a fun and approachable exercise activity to get your day started. Then head back to your room and get ready for the day. This is a great way to start your morning by making a few new friends and getting energized to learn with AHF.

Breakfast is Served

Grab breakfast and then head to our discussion group rooms to gain valuable insights from your peers. 

Join our panel of experts from across the hospitality and foodservice industries as we dive into their trends, successes, and innovations. Joe Carbonara will moderate a critical conversation about what’s happening out there in the rest of the hospitality and foodservice world. Attendees will gain new insights, spark new ideas,...

Networking Break

Grab a bathroom break and chat with friends and colleagues and then join us back at the mainstage for our next presentation. 

Awards Presentation

Celebrate and honor our national award winners as we present the Benchmarking Excellence and Sustainability Awards.

Join us for an enlightening panel discussion moderated by Eric Eisenberg, where we'll engage with C-suite representatives from supply chain, healthcare, and senior dining sectors. Our esteemed participants will delve into various industry intricacies, covering topics such as financial challenges, industry forecasts, patient care management, automation, data analysis, and more....

Mainstage: Sponsored Session 12:00-1:00 PM | CEUs: 1 Speakers: TBA We’re all talking about AI, Robotics, and Technology. Our administrators and colleagues want to know how we can innovate our operations, improve efficiencies, and automate our services. And they want us to do it all while we consider the bottom...

Send your company's leaders to join us in the Business Partner Debrief. Lunch will be provided. This is your chance to tell AHF's leaders what AHF did well, what can be improved, and what you'd like to see in the future.

Networking Break

Grab a bathroom break and chat with friends and colleagues and then head over to your selected concurrent session. 

In an era where environmental consciousness and social responsibility are paramount, this session delves into the critical imperative for every food service operator to adopt a robust sustainability plan. Our discussion will explore the intersection of climate change and health emphasizing the role of food service operations in shaping a...

For more than a half-century, Texas Health Dallas (THD) has been at the forefront of health care in North TX. Since 2022 it has had two contract proposals. The self-op team has remained self op and even gained a $2.2 million renovation in the process! Learn how in this moderated...

Intermountain Health is the largest nonprofit health system in the Intermountain West. In 2021 they partnered with a new GPO and their broadliner to maximize their cost savings opportunities. This resulted in a 55% increase in incentives back to the system. Despite this huge success, the Nutrition Services team continues...

Networking Break

Grab a bathroom break and then head back to the main stage for our final presentations!

Awards Presentation

Celebrate and honor our national award winners as we present the Chapter of the Year Award and AHF's Presidential Service Award(s). 

The band Chicago may have said it best – Does anyone really know what time is? Most people agree it’s one of the most precious resources in today’s work environment. You have many competing priorities for your time and others pile more work onto your already full plates. Bust the...

Join us ‘riverside’ as we drop hundreds of ducks in the lazy river and host a live race for duck glory. Ducks can be purchased during registration or on-site. All proceeds go towards AHF’s robust scholarship program to help operators attend AHF’s National Conference each year.

Free Time

Enjoy a break before you join us for Celebrate AHF!

Celebrate AHF - Closing Gala Dinner

Our closing dinner and gala reception. We’ll start off by honoring our Lifetime Achievement and Making A Different Award Winners during dinner. Following that, we’ll highlight our Culinary Competition winners and other AHF leaders. AHFs leaders and Culinary Competition Winners. Of course, we can’t forget about our live band, dancing,...

Our Speakers

Speakers

Lisa Shoopman, RDN
Mike Veny
Our Amazing sponsors

Diamond sponsors

Support our innovative 2024 sponsors & exhibitors by exploring their services

The AHF National Conference never disappoints! If you can dream it, an operator or business partner at the conference is willing to share their wisdom and help you succeed.
Executive Chef & Foodservice Director

See You in San Antonio!