Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
References
Timeline
Generic

Deborah Halek

Schenectady,NY

Summary

Efficient and experienced Registered Dietitian with 35 (+) years experience providing personalized nutritional counseling and education for clients with various medical conditions. Proficient in collecting data, developing client care plans, and entering nutritional data into the EMR. Skilled at working with interdisciplinary healthcare teams, utilizing the Microsoft platform.

Overview

38
38
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Consultant Registered Dietitian

Living Resources
Albany, NY
05.2024 - Current
  • Respond to nutrition consults and complete nutrition assessments as requested by the MD, RN, or any other member of the Care Team.
  • Attend Residential Habilitation meetings at various houses to provide diet education, portion control, and how to use the agency menu for the house staff (Direct Support Professionals).
  • Meet with participants when appropriate to encourage food and beverage choices consistent with diet order and medical status.

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Saratoga Bridges
Ballston Spa, NY
04.2023 - 05.2024
  • Updated 18 individual house menus for each individual in each house, and developed standardized recipes and a grocery list.
  • At the completion of each house menu, I would take the menu to the house and show the staff how to use the system.
  • Attended staff meetings to provide nutrition education, as requested by the Residential House Manager or RN. Diet education related to participants in a particular house, portion control, an inventory of food and beverages on hand, and a sanitation check of food prep and food storage areas.
  • Met with program participants as requested by the MD, RN, or the individual to provide nutrition education for diabetes, dyslipidemia, or HTN. Collaborated with physicians, nurses, behaviorists, and other healthcare professionals to ensure optimal patient care outcomes.
  • Participated in interdisciplinary team meetings to discuss patient nutrition care plans.

Clinical Registered Dietitian

Capstone Nursing and Rehab
Amsterdam, NY
06.2021 - 05.2023
  • Met with each new admission to the facility to obtain food preferences, food allergies or dislikes, and assess the need for religious or ethnically related diet preferences to provide appropriate meals.
  • Responsible for entering all data collected from new admissions into the Meal Tracker Menu System, in collaboration with the Food Service Director.
  • Nutrition assessments and updates of individual care plans according to the MDS schedule.
  • Worked closely with the Speech Language Pathologist to transition tube-fed residents back to eating by mouth.
  • Reviewed patient charts for accuracy prior to submitting claims for reimbursement from insurance companies.
  • Calculated nutritional requirements to assess adequacy of diet and nutrition support.
  • Supervised food service operations to ensure compliance with nutritional, safety, and sanitation standards.

Registered Dietitian

Lexington NYSARC of Fulton County
Gloversville, NY
01.2017 - 06.2021
  • Annual nutrition assessments for all clients on my caseload (two medically frail houses), along with six other residential homes.
  • Nutritional assessment for all clients in the agency who were receiving enteral nutrition support, with no food by mouth.
  • I attended all Care Plan Meetings for clients on my caseload.
  • Nutrition orientation and OPWDD choking prevention for newly hired staff, and annual renewal for veteran staff.
  • Dinnertime house visits to see clients, check on whether agency menu being utilized, check on the sanitation in food prep and storage areas.

Registered Dietitian

WWAARC
Queensbury, NY
02.2012 - 09.2016
  • Attended Residential Habilitation meetings as requested.
  • I visited clients in their homes for dinner observation and acceptance; proper food texture was prepared, and sanitation of food prep and storage areas was ensured.
  • Educated newly hired cooks for residential homes, as needed.
  • Nutrition assessment for clients who were seen for MNT.
  • I wrote house menus and recipes.

Corrected Examinations

Kelly Services
Menands, NY
05.2010 - 01.2013
  • A double-blind procedure was used to correct middle and high school students' English and Math exams for MCAP.
  • Before reviewing any exams, we had to pass an exam at the beginning of the work day to ensure we were looking at key points for scoring each group of examinations we reviewed and corrected.

Clinical Nutrition Manager

Morrison Healthcare Food Services
Schenectady, NY
05.2007 - 04.2010
  • Nutrition care for the entire population at Sunnyview Rehab Hospital, with the assistance of one Diet Tech.
  • MNT for the most clinically complex patients in the TBI, Cardiac/Surgical, and CVA units throughout the hospital.
  • Met with new patients or their family members to obtain the usual eating patterns and food preferences prior to their acute care.
  • In charge of the 'Cater to You' staff, who were responsible for obtaining patient menus, assembling, and distributing meal trays.
  • Prepared monthly clinical and foodservice-related QA and QI reports per job description.
  • Assisted the Food Service Director with any special food-related functions for the Administration in the hospital.

Registered Dietitian

HHHN
Glens Falls , NY
05.2004 - 06.2007
  • I was hired under three grants working for The Ryan White Program, assisting with the development of nutrition and health-related educational materials for all of the health centers in the network, and I sat on a committee to expand diabetes care from individual counseling to a 'Diabetes Self-Management Program' for groups of patients.
  • When funding from two of the three grants ran out, I was moved into the Outpatient Registered Dietitian position, based out of Warrensburg, NY.
  • From 2004 until 2007, I provided MNT counseling for outpatients at the Warrensburg Health Center, plus eight other health centers in the Adirondack Park and Essex County.

Clinical Registered DIetitian

Glens Falls Hospital
Glens Falls, NY
01.2001 - 05.2004
  • My caseload included Pediatrics, ICU, Med/Surgical, and the Behavioral Health Units.
  • Conducted patient interviews and medical record reviews to compile a nutritional assessment for all consults generated by medical providers.
  • Assisted a surgeon in the development of a diet specific to patients who would be having Nissen Fundoplication to correct GERD.
  • MNT education for all patients with newly diagnosed T1D or T2D on my caseload.
  • MNT for any patient in the hospital every fourth weekend.
  • Filled out billing forms for all inpatients who were seen for nutrition services.
  • Wrote orders for patient tube feedings and TPN when ordered by surgeons post-operatively.

Clinical Registered Dietitian

St. Clare's Hospital
Schenectady, NY
10.1991 - 12.2000
  • MNT for the inpatient population included Pediatrics, CCA, Medical/Surgical floors, and any other floor that required coverage during vacation time for FT RD and/or three DTRs.
  • Outpatients were scheduled and seen upon referral by an MD for MNT counseling for a vast array of medical conditions, but mostly patients with diabetes and/or obesity.
  • I was a member and conducted MNT for participants of the Outpatient Diabetes Self-Management Program, which was completed on a monthly basis.
  • I was consulted by a particular surgeon and the RPA-Cs who worked with him to write j-tube feeding orders or TPN orders for postoperative patients in this MD's care.
  • I took an informal course provided by Dr. Kevin Karpowitz regarding the failure to thrive (FTT) pediatric inpatient we had for three weeks. I became a member of a new group developed by SCH Social Services and Dr. K to help new moms referred by PCPs in the Schenectady area, for the overall care of their infants.

AP4 Dietetic Intern

Medical Center Hospital of Vermont
Burlington, VT
09.1990 - 06.1991
  • I worked alongside RDs at the Medical Center for all inpatient clinical nutrition care settings for the first six months of the program.
  • I worked alongside the Food Service Manager (FSM) and the Assistant Food Service Manager in the Food Service Department for three months. We were trained in each work station of the hospital food service area. This encompassed preparing foods from scratch, to cleaning dirty dinnerware in the dishroom after meal service was completed.
  • Community nutrition took place during the last month of the program. We spent time at Head Start and a community WIC program.

Diet Technician

Hallmark Nursing Centre
Schenectady, NY
07.1987 - 08.1990
  • Established healthful and therapeutic meal plans and menus for residents with specific health conditions.
  • Nutrition assessments on high-priority residents that would also be seen by the Consultant RD, who came in on a weekly basis.
  • Daily meal rounds in the dining rooms to ensure meal appearance and acceptance, plus any feedback from residents for the Food Service Manager (FSM).
  • Worked with FSM and kitchen staff to prepare palatable pureed foods to improve resident acceptance and decrease the need for oral liquid supplementation.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Nutritional Science

Russell Sage College
Troy NY

Skills

  • Data analysis
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Effective communication
  • Project management

Certification

  • RDN through The Commission on Dietetic Registration

References

References available upon request.

Timeline

Consultant Registered Dietitian

Living Resources
05.2024 - Current

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Saratoga Bridges
04.2023 - 05.2024

Clinical Registered Dietitian

Capstone Nursing and Rehab
06.2021 - 05.2023

Registered Dietitian

Lexington NYSARC of Fulton County
01.2017 - 06.2021

Registered Dietitian

WWAARC
02.2012 - 09.2016

Corrected Examinations

Kelly Services
05.2010 - 01.2013

Clinical Nutrition Manager

Morrison Healthcare Food Services
05.2007 - 04.2010

Registered Dietitian

HHHN
05.2004 - 06.2007

Clinical Registered DIetitian

Glens Falls Hospital
01.2001 - 05.2004

Clinical Registered Dietitian

St. Clare's Hospital
10.1991 - 12.2000

AP4 Dietetic Intern

Medical Center Hospital of Vermont
09.1990 - 06.1991

Diet Technician

Hallmark Nursing Centre
07.1987 - 08.1990

Bachelor of Science - Nutritional Science

Russell Sage College

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Deborah Halek