Exhibit 31.2

     I, James L. DiStefano, Chief Financial Officer, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Healthcare
        Services Group, Inc.;

     2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
        statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
        to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
        such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the periods
        covered by this quarterly report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
        information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
        material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
        cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
        this quarterly report;

     4. The registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for
        establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and
        have;

              c) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                 such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                 our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                 to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                 made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this quarterly report is being
                 prepared;

              d) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly report
                 our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
                 controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by
                 this report based on such evaluation and;

              e) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                 the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
                 affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
                 registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

     5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
        our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
        committee of registrant's Board of Directors;

              f) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                 design or operation of internal control over financial
                 reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                 registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                 financial information; and

              g) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
                 other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting

     Date: October 27, 2003

                                                         /s/ James L. DiStefano
                                                         ----------------------
                                                         James L. DiStefano
                                                         Chief Financial Officer