an Editorial from the Yuma Sun
Editorial
Hospital has right to seek healthy food
Dec 29, 2004
A food fight has broken out at a hospital that is noted for its heart care.
The director of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, heart surgeon Toby Cosgrove, wants some fast food purveyors to get out of his large urban facility. He has successfully convinced Pizza Hut to abandon its restaurant location, but McDonald's is standing firm on its intention to stay for the remaining 10 years of its lease.
Cosgrove says he isn't trying to single out McDonald's for serving unhealthy food, though he feels it is symbolic of Americans' bad eating habits. He wants the hospital to promote more healthy food choices for its staff, patients and visitors. "We have to set an example," the doctor said.
McDonald's officials have a different view. They say they are proud of their menu and that it offers healthy alternatives to its high fat, high calorie Big Macs and fries. They have also offered to cooperate with the clinic's food nutritionists to improve their menu.
Some clinic employees are not happy about the move to oust McDonald's, saying that it offers cheaper meal alternatives than the hospital's cafeteria and that they don't want to just eat "rabbit food" like salads and fruits.
This issue of "choice" has become a central topic in the debate. The hospital CEO says he favors choices, but wants them to be healthy choices. Fast food officials and some staff members want people to have full choice in what they eat, healthy or not.
We agree people should be free to live their lives as they see fit, whether in a healthy way or not, but hospitals and businesses are also free to establish the conditions they want in their facilities.
Yuma Regional Medical Center, for example, bans smoking on its grounds. That's not always popular, but it is their right and it is something they feel is important in a health care facility They also have the right to decide what kind of food they want to have served in their facilities. Cleveland Clinic — which still allows smoking for now — also can make those decisions.
The issue of McDonald's lease complicates the matter for the Cleveland Clinic, which has a responsibility to honor its contracts, but it is wrong to criticize the director for wanting to set eating options within his own facility. Those who dislike them can go elsewhere.