Corporate Accountability International, a consumer watchdog group, recently sent a letter to 20 hospitals urging them to end their food contracts with McDonald's and to remove the McDonald's restaurants from their facilities.
Fast-food chains in hospitals have been viewed as contradictory in nature, as the unhealthy food options go against the healthy eating habits endorsed by hospitals and the healthcare industry at large. Sara Deon, campaign director at CAI, wrote in the letter asking each of the hospital administrators to "help curb the epidemic of diet-related disease and to stop fostering a food environment that promotes harm, not health."
Currently, there are 14,000 McDonald's scattered throughout the United States, with 27 of those restaurants based in hospitals, according to a National Public Radio report. Some hospitals have started to close fast food restaurants within their facilities — Children's Hospital of Philadelphia closed its McDonald's this past September after 34 years of operation, and Cleveland Clinic shut down a Pizza Hut several years ago.
However, many hospitals are locked into long-term contracts with McDonald's and other fast-food corporations, some as long as 25 years, which has made the elimination of hospital fast food more complex, according to the report.
The 20 hospitals that received the letter from CAI include:
• Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Ben Taub Hospital in Houston
• Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago
• Cleveland Clinic
• Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas
• Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta
• Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami
• Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky.
• MCG Health Children's Medical Center in Augusta, Ga.
• Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla.
• Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa
• Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, Miss.
• Naval Medical Center in San Diego
• Northside Hospital in Atlanta
• Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego
• Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis
• Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital
• Texas Children's Hospital in Houston
• Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Fast-food chains in hospitals have been viewed as contradictory in nature, as the unhealthy food options go against the healthy eating habits endorsed by hospitals and the healthcare industry at large. Sara Deon, campaign director at CAI, wrote in the letter asking each of the hospital administrators to "help curb the epidemic of diet-related disease and to stop fostering a food environment that promotes harm, not health."
Currently, there are 14,000 McDonald's scattered throughout the United States, with 27 of those restaurants based in hospitals, according to a National Public Radio report. Some hospitals have started to close fast food restaurants within their facilities — Children's Hospital of Philadelphia closed its McDonald's this past September after 34 years of operation, and Cleveland Clinic shut down a Pizza Hut several years ago.
However, many hospitals are locked into long-term contracts with McDonald's and other fast-food corporations, some as long as 25 years, which has made the elimination of hospital fast food more complex, according to the report.
The 20 hospitals that received the letter from CAI include:
• Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Ben Taub Hospital in Houston
• Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago
• Cleveland Clinic
• Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas
• Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta
• Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami
• Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, Ky.
• MCG Health Children's Medical Center in Augusta, Ga.
• Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla.
• Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa
• Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, Miss.
• Naval Medical Center in San Diego
• Northside Hospital in Atlanta
• Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego
• Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis
• Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital
• Texas Children's Hospital in Houston
• Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.
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