@BlogKCIt looks like Truman Medical Center CEO and respected community leader John Bluford might finally be rectifying the incredibly embarrassing situation with a McDonald’s in the hospital lobby. In special piece in the KC Star, Bluford finally acknowledges the irony and says the hospital is looking for a healthier alternative.
The diseases of bad eating – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc. – are skyrocketing and taking up an ever greater share of our limited health care resources. The presence of a McDonalds in the Truman lobby is an especially bad symbol because Missouri ranks very high for these diseases, and they hit Truman’s poor and underserved population disproportionately.
For a hospital serving the poor and located in the middle of food desert, it’s especially important for them to set a good example and use their food service operation to provide healthier options.
Sadly, the Truman McDonalds is an all too common eyesore in the US. In a climate of shrinking government resources, many hospitals and schools are turning to fast food as more affordable alternatives to traditional food service operations. KC taxpayers approved a property tax increase for our public health care provides in 2005, but health care costs continue to outpace tax revenues. Ironically, a lot of rising health care costs come from people without access to healthy food options. Hopefully Truman can begin to break this downward spiral by replacing its McDonalds withe a healthier option.
This is awesome news! Thanks for pointing it out. As a TMC employee, I have always rolled my eyes at that McDonald’s right inside one of the main entrances. (The Lakewood campus has something healthier… a Subway or something I think?) John Bluford is really committed to practicing what we preach. There is a strong emphasis on employee health inside the company, and I know there are some exciting things for the community coming soon.
Now if we could only get people to follow the city ordinance and stop smoking right outside the hospital entrance…
As a diabetic, I’m surprised that a hospital would have a McDonald’s or any other fast food restaurant in the food court.
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Your comment “finally be rectifying the incredibly embarrassing situation with a McDonald’s in the hospital lobby” is missing something. It’s missing the fact that before John came to be the CEO, a contract already existed renting that space for 30 years to McDonald’s. The embarrassing situation is that McDonald’s has fought tooth and nail to stay there. What’s even more embarrassing is the idea that John can even begin to be attacked when he is taking the campaign to get McDonald’s out public. It’s the current initiative of Truman Med that is a prime example of a hospital leading the way for healthier living. And as people feel it necessary to bring up unnecessary statistics about poverty and health problems, the cold hard fact is that Truman is “walking the walk” in its campaigns and initiatives to provide a healthier way of life for those in the community. The real question is: Who is going to follow Truman Med in this initiative to help pave the way for healthier communities? Who among other hospitals are going to follow Truman’s footsteps and start their own campaigns for a healthier community?
That McD’s has been there since like the late 80′s or early 90′s, I dont think this Bluford guy brought them in. And one would have to assume they have some sort of long term contract and getting out of a contract with a global powerhouse like McD’s can’t be easy.
To clarify, we never said that Bluford brought McDonalds into the hospital, only that it has taken too long to get rid of it.