Like it or not, the goings on in the cafeteria—one of the most visited locations by patients, visitors, and staff alike—can have a substantial impact on a healthcare organization's brand.
The FDA requires restaurants to include nutrition facts on menus, Starbucks discloses the often-alarming calorie counts of its "blended beverages," New York City tried and failed to limit soft drink sizes, and yet there are still hospitals in the US that serve up greasy fast food to patients, visitors, and staff day in and day out.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a Washington D.C.-based non-profit, recently called out several hospitals and health systems with fast food contracts, equating serving burgers and fries with selling cigarettes in gift shops, which was common practice not too long ago.
"The previous generation dealt with cigarettes. Now it's time to tackle meat, cheese, and all the fat and cholesterol they are packing into patients' arteries," Physicians Committee president Neal Barnard, M.D. said in the organization's "Hazardous Hospital Foods" report. "Hospitals need to end contracts with fast-food chains selling Big Macs, chicken nuggets, and double bacon cheeseburgers."
In the report, PCRM studied 200 public hospitals, many of which receive government funding and treat medically underserved patients. They found that Chick-fil-A has at least 20 hospital locations, McDonald's has at least 18, and Wendy's has at least five. If you view their handy infographic you'll notice an obvious trend—the bulk of fast food-hawking hospitals are located in the South, where obesity and related diseases are rampant.
Image Implications
At first glance the issue of fast food has nothing to do with a hospital's marketing department. It's easy to write it off fast food vending as an operations issue or an agenda item for the ethics committee to hash out the merits of practicing what you preach.
But, like it or not, the goings on in the cafeteria—one of the most visited locations by patients, visitors, and staff alike—can have a substantial impact on an organization's brand. It sends a message that the hospital and its providers are out of step when, say, a cardiologist has to recommend a low-fat diet to a patient who just passed by McDonald's golden arches on the way in.
Even if patients don't consciously put it together, hospitals selling fast food reeks of hypocrisy and creates an opportunity for public criticism. The PCRM report, which was picked up by several major and local news outlets, names several offending hospitals and notes that many with fast food contracts are incentivized to help the restaurants achieve profit goals or risk losing their lease.
One of the most egregious examples is Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston, TX, where, according to PCRM, the independent McDonald's franchise owner pays the hospital higher rent when sales increase. In fact, the contract lists ways that McDonald's may promote food to hospital visitors, including a listing in the hospital directory and signage near the elevators, ER entrance, pharmacy, clinic, and parking garage.
Personally, I'd have a hard time taking a hospital seriously when they're basically playing host to and advertising a feeder system for angioplasties. And, conflict of interest aside, that's a waste of prime marketing real estate that could be used to promote the organization's programs and service lines.
Positive Plates
The good news is more and more hospitals are beginning to see the sensible-diet light. Two hospitals called out in previous PCRM reports have severed their fast food ties and there's a growing trend to serve wholesome food among the nation's top hospitals and health systems.
Last year I detailed John Muir Health's menu revamp in an effort to serve more nutritious food and improve the patient experience. Today, more and more organizations are following suit; Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center's new cafe promises nutritious fare, even in its vending machines, and in San Diego's Sharp Memorial Hospital newly designed cafeteria fried and sugary foods have been nixed.
"We really don't feel that hospital food should be bland and tasteless," Sharp Executive Chef Justin Searle told a local paper. "Food is medicine, and that's what we're trying to teach people. So it needs to taste good, it needs to be appealing and appetizing, and it's got to be satisfying."
That is the sort of message hospitals and health systems' cafeterias need to be telling. We can't wait for McDonald's and other fast food chains to make their food healthier. Like tobacco products, fast food has no place within hospital walls.
Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.