YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Over carrot soup, Petty Officer 2nd Class Lawrence V. Laranang, a hospitalman at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, suggested placing maps in elevators to help direct lost patients and visitors.

The idea sparked major interest. Hospital commander Capt. Charles Taylor and his executive officer, Capt. Greg Hoeksema, enthusiastically took note of the idea.

It was more than a simple suggestion. Coming from one of the hospital’s sailors of the quarter, it exemplified the value of a program launched this year to reward the hospital’s top sailors and staff with both a special lunch and their bosses’ ears.

Hoeksema created the All-Stars Luncheon program earlier this year. It brings together the sailors, civilians and Japanese contractors of the quarter with hospital leaders to celebrate the top performers and to give them a chance to vent or make suggestions.

“It’s good to give people this opportunity to relax, talk to us, tell us what’s going on out there,” Taylor said. “It gives the staff something to aspire to.”

The hospital leadership has honored its best and brightest in the past, Taylor said, but usually at an awards ceremony. The lunch idea was created to make the honor more meaningful and to help brainstorm improvements.

The lunch is meant “to allow them to converse with us without barriers,” Hoeksema said. “People say it’s hard to reward people. You can’t give them a raise. But it’s not hard [to reward them], you just have to think of creative ways to do it.”

The lunch also allows leadership to nip rumors in the bud.

“They hear the same rumors as the population out there,” Taylor said. “It really is enlightening to hear [the truth] from our mouths.”

The staff members told Taylor and Hoeksema about things they feel are working well for patients, like a new same-day service for appointments. They asked about staffing shortages, equipment issues and how to get information out after meetings.

The lunchtime conversation was easygoing. But the first lunch, held in February, took a little more coaxing.

“We had a really difficult time getting them to talk,” Taylor said.

The luncheon will continue each quarter, after selections are made for Blue Shirt, junior and senior sailor; junior officer; government service employee; master labor contractor; and Red Cross volunteer of the quarter.

The lunch also gives the Navy cooks and chefs a rare opportunity “to break away from the institutional food,” Hoeksema said. It can be “a chance for [them] to do something special.”

For the luncheon last week, the hospital culinary specialists prepared a selection of appetizers including artichoke crab dip, followed by Parmesan-crusted swordfish and carrot Kasba soup.

For participants, besides a good meal, the lunch shows them how hospital leaders view the little guys.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for someone like me to be heard by the higher ups,” Laranang said. “I think it’s very good that they touch base with the little guys like me. We have a lot of ideas.”