Meet Kenny Wagoner, Tulsa's Cancer Treatment Centers of America Executive Chef

April 1, 5:33 PMOrganic Food ExaminerNatalie Rotunda

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Chef Kenny Wagoner joined the Tulsa Cancer Treatment Centers of America as their executive chef in July 2003. What immediately comes through when one talks to him is his total dedication to CTCA’s mother standard of care philosophy. For their part, Kenny and his 50-plus staff invest themselves in the whole-person model espoused at CTCA facilities.

Kenny’s parents left their native Ireland with their children, and emigrated to America, where Kenny was presented with an opportunity in the culinary field: a three-year apprenticeship at the Westin Hotels. He worked his way up through culinary ranks, eventually working as the fine dining chef in some of America’s top hotels.

Fueling Chef Wagoner’s passion to prepare nutritious meals that look good enough for CTCA patients to eat—important because cancer patients often lose their taste for food---is his close personal connection to cancer. His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, but didn’t treat at CTCA. Kenny cringes as he recalls the answer his mother was given when she asked her doctor what she should eat. “What you’re eating now, but in moderation.”

In 2005, Kenny launched an initiative that contributes to Tulsa’s breast cancer community at large, another way in which he gives back. Chefs for the Cure, an annual event held at CTCA, brings together his chef friends who cook a favorite, or signature, dish for hundreds of attendees. Fourteen chefs participated the first year; last year, 35 chefs were on hand, along with approximately 400 people including CTCA patients.

In addition to his regular duties at CTCA, Chef Wagoner and volunteer staff cook breakfast for the Salvation Army once a month, and twice a week, they cook food for the local community food bank.

How long have you been cooking, Chef?
I love what I do. I’ve been cooking since I was 13 or 14, not professionally, though. In America, I had a three-year apprenticeship, and trained classically. The chefs who trained me were typically European, and Westin was a big hirer of European chefs. Charlie Trotter raised the bar. Makes you eat with your eyes, and I’m a big believer in that.
If it doesn’t look like something the patients will enjoy, they probably won’t eat it.

Had you cooked with organic foods before you came to CTCA?
I didn’t do a whole lot before with it. CTCA said do what you do and take care of our patients. I have three shipments a week of organic produce coming in from Denver. It’s based on availability. Our market here is not big for organic. We have a Whole Foods now. It’s a brand new experience for me. Organic food tastes phenomenal, but the shelf life is not as long, so I have three trucks a week bring it in.

When I first started here, a local company tried to get organic foods in. Our local vendors do what they can to get organic in to me, as well. We have local farmers that contribute to that. It’s based on quality and quantity available. Our dietitions don’t recommend pork but if a patient requests pork, then I get pork because we are here to serve the patient. We do that for all of our patients. We are about making food that patients want to eat, and working closely to feed the patient.

Our Director of Food Services is Kalli Castille, who is a registered dietitian. We’ve been working together for about six years on recipes, and we work closely with the nutrition department every day. We work with the whole body. Some of our patients also have heart disease, diabetes, and we have celiac patients. [The day of the interview] I’ll develop a recipe for a black bean burger for a patient. It’s a challenge for me, and the recipe could be used for others with the same problem. We’re always researching food to help patients with their health. The doctors have medications, and our department uses food as a weapon to help patients continue on.

How large is your staff? How many patients do you serve each day?
I have a staff of over 50 between the back of the house and the front of the house--- an executive sous chef, a kitchen brigade and cooks, and the front of the house staff works with patients to make sure they enjoy the food. My staff is just an amazing bunch of people.

We serve 600-700 patients a day. We want them to come to the dining room every day and interact; patients helping patients, telling their stories.

What else would you like to tell us about CTCA?
We have a meeting once a week, a focus group, and patients attend the meetings. Our CEO chairs the meeting, and it’s a round-table discussion. How are we doing, and how can we get better. It’s not unusual to have 20 to 25 people in the room.

We’re here to help the patients as much as possible, and we get that direction from the owner who was so appalled by the lack of treatment and lack of hope he’d seen. The mother care standard is derived from that. Most hospitals want to get you in and out and move onto the next patient. We are about bringing them hope, getting them better, and helping them after they leave here.

Tulsa CTCA has been around for 18 years. It’s amazing the heart the people who work here bring. People in the business want to work where they will be recognized. Here, it’s about the patient. There is so much hope here, not just my department---doctors, nurses, everyone.

This place is the most phenomenal place on earth. I can’t say enough about the hospital, the staff, my staff, the patients---their true heroism and courage just take your breath away.