A Johns Hopkins Hospital cook complained about broken appliances, unsanitary conditions. Then he was fired.

A former Johns Hopkins Hospital food service worker says he was retaliated against and later fired after complaining to managers about broken appliances and unsanitary conditions in the aging kitchen where he worked. It’s likely the same kitchen where, earlier this year, hospital safety monitors discovered problems so serious they put the prestigious East Baltimore medical center’s accreditation at risk.

Chef Kevin Blunt, 58, of Woodlawn said some of the kitchen’s refrigerators did not stay cool enough to prevent perishable food from spoiling, forcing workers to store ingredients on beds of ice. The steam table used to keep prepared foods warm didn’t work either, he said. And on several occasions, cloudy water pooled on the kitchen floor because ceiling leaks were not repaired for days, he added.

Blunt documented the problems in a September 2021 email he sent to Angelo Mojica, Hopkins’ vice president for food and culinary services, and six other administrators, seeking help. He said he also tried calling a hotline employees are encouraged to use to report safety hazards. But instead of taking his concerns seriously, he wrote that his colleagues called him a “snitch” and his managers punished him for what he described as minor infractions. He was fired in July.

“I’m nothing but a cook, but I can tell you no one should be served moldy bread or food not at temperature, especially not patients who are in the hospital trying to get better,” Blunt said in an interview.

His allegations may shed light on what hospital safety monitors discovered when they visited the medical center in August and issued a preliminary denial of accreditation, a certification required for licensing in Maryland that allows the hospital to treat Medicare patients. The accreditor, called the Joint Commission, has not publicly released a report summarizing its findings, and neither has Hopkins.

Liz Vandendriessche, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in September the problems primarily involved the kitchen in one of the hospital’s original buildings. The surveyors also pointed out various pieces of broken furniture, she added.

Hopkins responded by voluntarily closing the kitchen. And late last month, the commission restored the hospital’s accreditation while also ordering a follow-up survey in six months to ensure the issues that threatened patients or other individuals served by the hospital are totally resolved.

Vandendriessche and Kim Hoppe, the hospital’s vice president of communications, did not respond to questions about Blunt’s account.

Blunt contacted The Banner after it reported on the hospital’s accreditation woes last month, and he provided emails, pictures and paperwork as evidence of his claims.

He’s not the only one worried about the safety of meals served at the medical center. A food service worker interviewed by FOX45 in August said she thought the food being served to ill patients was dangerous and could harm them. She asked the TV network for anonymity because she said she feared retaliation.

“What they have been feeding them for the past few days, to be honest with you, I wouldn’t give that to a dog,” the employee told FOX45. “I can’t for sure, definitively say if they are getting sick or not, but I do know that the patients complain a lot about the food.”

Asked about the employee’s accusations, an anonymous Hopkins hospital spokesperson told FOX45 the kitchen had been closed as a preventive measure, “not a result of any harm to patients or staff.” But in reality, the hospital’s accreditor threatened to revoke its approval precisely because conditions in the kitchen were unsafe enough that they posed a threat to diners.

Blunt said problems in the hospital kitchen first emerged two years ago after Hopkins ended its contract with Sodexo, a large food services and facilities management company. He said the Hopkins employees who became his managers were not receptive to his concerns about faulty equipment, noting that the kitchen was slated for renovation.

“They always said ‘This kitchen is about to be closed down,’” Blunt recounted. “But if the Joint Commission hadn’t come, that kitchen would still be open.”

The scheduled overhaul was of little comfort to Blunt, who says he has worked in Baltimore kitchens for 30 years and knows how important it is to store raw food at the right temperature. He said he was especially concerned about how the equipment problems might impact fragile patients with restricted diets.

On several occasions, Blunt said he removed food from a broken refrigerator only to return to work the following day and find it restocked.

Hopkins’ handling of several kitchen ceiling leaks threatened patient safety and the safety of kitchen workers, Blunt said.

When staff noticed a leak, maintenance crews would use large sheets of white plastic and black tape to catch and direct the water. One time, he said, the overflow was guided into a sink used to wash dishes. Another time, he said the water spilled over the top of a small trash can that was supposed to collect it, leaving the kitchen’s floor tile slick.

Blunt detailed his concerns — about patient safety and his employment status — in the email to Mojica.

“I’ve found myself as the target of retaliation at the hands of kitchen management,” wrote Blunt, who previously won a “rising star” award and another honor for excellence in work performance.

“This retaliation has been ongoing and escalating for a year now because of voicing my objection to doing such immoral and unsanitary things such as storing food to be served in broken refrigerators, serving spoiled food, or food at incorrect or dangerous temperatures,” he added.

Blunt says he never heard back.

Mojica and the other email recipients did not respond to a request for comment.

Work orders from around the same time that Blunt saved and allowed The Banner to view detailed a slew of other kitchen problems, including broken ovens and steam kettles; exposed electrical wiring; cracked floor, wall and ceiling tiles; a clogged drain; chipping paint; rusted pipes; and dirty fans and vents.

Blunt drafted his email one week after being formally written up and suspended for missing a staff meeting that he says was called and held while he was using the restroom. He concedes that he erred in not notifying his manager before taking a 15-minute break. A corrective action form memorializing the incident described it as a “major violation” and his “final warning.”

“The expectation it that you hold yourself accountable for your actions going forward,” the form states, misspelling the word “is.” “Additionally, you must be professional at all times and cordial when interacting with your co-workers and leadership.”

He’d previously been written up for “discurtious behavior” after declining to accept a uniform that he believed was dirty and throwing the pants into a manager’s office. The word discourteous was misspelled on the form. The corrective action in that case was counseling on Hopkins’ core values, including respect and collegiality.

And in April, Blunt was reprimanded for commenting on another employee’s sexuality. Blunt said he regrets the comment and sought to apologize, but was told not to speak to the person.

Blunt said he was fired in July after working for Hopkins in food service for nearly seven years, a blow that cost him his pension and health benefits. He said the equipment problems he spoke up about had not been addressed by the time he left.

The Joint Commission visited the hospital and flagged problems in one of its kitchens the month after Blunt’s firing.

Blunt said his fellow cooks did not complain to managers about the persistent equipment problems as often or as loudly as he did because the kitchen was already short-staffed and they wanted to stay in managers’ good graces. Instead, they isolated Blunt and labeled him “a snitch,” something he mentioned in his September 2021 email to Mojica.

Blunt contested his firing by filing a grievance but has since found work cooking in area nursing homes.

He hopes that by coming forward, kitchens in health care settings will be forced to better train workers in food preparation safety the same way he learned decades ago in culinary school.

“You can be a mechanic one day, and cooking behind the Johns Hopkins Hospital kitchen line the next,” Blunt said. “Patients deserve better.”

jessica.calefati@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jessica Calefati

jessica.calefati@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jessica Calefati is an education enterprise reporter exploring how Johns Hopkins University is shaping Baltimore’s future.

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