- CHICAGO (AFP) - A prestigious
US hospital, home to the nation's top-rated cardiac centre, is showing
McDonald's Corp. the door in the best interests of its patients, and as
evidence of its corporate bona fides.
-
- Officials from the Cleveland Clinic met with
representatives
from the world's largest fast-food chain Thursday to discuss the Clinic's
decision to shutter a McDonald's outlet on its Ohio hospital campus.
-
- The meeting was cordial, but inconclusive. Both sides
"will continue the conversation" the clinic said in a
statement.
-
- Cleveland Clinic chief executive officer Toby Cosgrove,
an internationally renowned heart surgeon, decided to banish fries and
burgers from the hospital's food court in order to demonstrate the
hospital's
commitment to a heart-healthy diet, a hospital spokeswoman said.
-
- "Our food options have to be consistent with what
we tell patients," explained Angela Calman. "We can't be telling
patients to modify their diets while providing fat and high sodium
foods."
-
- Calman said the hospital felt an obligation to provide
patients and visitors to the hospital -- many of whom come from
lower-income
inner-city neighbourhoods -- with healthy food options at an affordable
price.
-
- "We can't continue sending out the wrong signal,
especially for those patients suffering from diabetes or
obesity."
-
- The McDonald's outlet is one of a half dozen different
food stalls in the hospital's food court or cafeteria serving about 12,000
customers a week -- patients, visitors and hospital staff included.
-
- Pizza Hut shuttered its hospital outlet in October at
the request of hospital management, but McDonald's Corp. which has a
20-year
lease, has proved less amenable, and appears to be prepared to stand its
ground.
-
- "If you take a look at some of the other vendors
and the vending machines, our food stacks up great, and, in many cases
, better than some of those other offerings," said Lisa Howard, a
spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Illinois, chain.
-
- "We offer different sizes for different
people."
-
- Calman said the hospital "didn't anticipate a
fight,"
and is hoping for "some kind of resolution." But she indicated
that the clinic is also looking at its legal options, if talks with the
chain fail.
-
- She denied that the hospital was nannying its public,
and noted that true burger and fries fans could get their fix at any of
the several McDonald's restaurants that lie within a two-mile radius of
the hospital.
-
- As for the chain's new healthier menu, she had this to
say.
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- "We applaud their healthier options, but adding
salads is not enough, the rest of their menu contains too much fat and
sodium."
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