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This next topic is a tough one. I put it in my queue to discuss several weeks ago and have been sitting on it. There are easier topics to discuss today; fecal covered eggs anyone? How about a recent study that shows smoking menthol cigarettes is bad for you, worse than regular cigarettes… that’s good news for someone right?
Citizens Medical Center in Victoria, Texas; has initiated a policy of refusing to hire anyone with a body mass index of more than 35. Essentially the CEO, David Brown, feels that his patients (customers) expect an atmosphere of health. Mr. Brown states: … an employees physique should fit with a representational image or specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional, including an appearance free from distraction for hospital patients.
I admit I am torn here. Revisiting my post from yesterday, Big Mac’s in the Cleveland Clinic; I felt that a hospital has a responsibility to promote a healthy environment and to use every opportunity to portray that image to patients, guests & staff. (Which does not include a McDonalds in the lobby.)
However…
Lets divert for a second and go a little deeper. According to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, physicians with a normal body mass index were more likely than overweight doctors to engage their obese patients in weight loss discussions.
Come on Ian, quit skirting the issue.
Hospital A: Skinny people, no McDonalds and a hiring policy that discriminates the overweight
Hospital B: Melting Pot of employees, McDonalds in the lobby. No discrimination.
Long pause… thinking…
Time for another diversion. Picture the greatest heart surgeon in the world. She is renowned world-wide for her prowess in the operating room. Patients travel far and wide to be at the receiving end of her scalpel. She gets in the OR at 7am and leaves after her rounds at 8pm, everyday for years. She does not have time to work out, she grabs a Big Mac and fries in the cafeteria… and rushes back to saving lives. She is obese. Would you want her as your surgeon? Or to put it another way; would you dispel her services because of her weight?
If you were rushed to the hospital for an emergency operation would you care in any fashion what BMI the staff had?
I have an issue with discrimination. Does that CEO allow people to smoke? Does he know if his staff consists of alcoholics or drug abusers? How about if they owe money to the IRS? Just because a person has the correct BMI does not imply they are any better of a person than a high BMI.
For most of us the hospital is the last stop. For most of us the hospital has nothing to do with Prevention. It has everything to do with immediate results that rely on surgical intervention to relieve life threatening symptoms. We are rolled in on a gurney and then, we hope, rolled out to our loved ones. It is only after we leave a hospital that we have the opportunity to prevent this occurrence.
SO, I have to disagree with my prior stance on this subject. A hospital is not in the business to promote Prevention. They are in the business to fix problems and move on. A hospital is concerned with the efficient and consistent delivery of services. Very similar to an Auto Center. You have a flat tire, they fix it… I cannot remember ever getting a lecture about nail avoidance.
Where I would expect to see weight discrimination is in locations that deal with Prevention, the locations that are in the business of Rehab or Nutrition. This discrimination would be more along the lines of credibility with the consumer. No one hires an overweight personal trainer.
Perhaps an overweight Doctor is in a much better position to relate with a patient dealing with the symptoms of obesity. Perhaps not.
In the grand scheme; it is your own personal responsibility to take care of yourself. Fat, skinny, short, tall; no one is going to do a better job of improving your well-being than yourself.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/rss/article/251100/10/Texas-Hospital-Says-Fat-People-Need-Not-Apply
You hit a sore spot. What’s next? Only left-handed, bald, Swedish, gay people need apply for this job?
Its a difficult topic. Probably out of my league. In the end we are all human.
I like your new logo. Ian
yep..your mc donalds in the hospital post made me think too. i decided i would rather just let mcdonalds be anywhere and i can make my own dietary decisions. last time i checked i was an adult.
Thank you for reading it. You are exactly right. We are adults and we need to make our own decisions. It’s frustrating though… Why isn’t there a fresh vegetable stand in the hospital? Someday. Thanks again. Ian
Well thought out, Ian. I’ve struggled with my own perception of the obese and now at least I have a better concept of how best to judge them and in what capacity I would be comfortable with expressing my views on such matters.
Gary. Any man that runs as fast as you do, does not need to struggle with perception.
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What would have happened if a doctor had engaged you in discussions about a plant based diet before you needed quadruple bypass surgery? I think “fixing” a patient MUST include prevention. Isn’t that the best medicine of all?
You are absolutely right. What if a Doctor had told me that the heart disease was reversible using nutiriton as the tool. But they don’t tell you that. They use words like “widow maker” to move you towards the quickest fix. Honestly, it is not the Doctor’s fault.
1. You can become a full fledged doctor without one class in nutrition.
2. Imagine that same doctor tells his patient with 95% blockage, you need to go to a plant based, no oil program immediately. and two weeks later that patient has a massive stroke and dies.
3. A cardiologist told me this recently; “we just dont see patients like you, that embrace a new lifestyle to save your life, most patients after bypass surgery are asking my why the have to stop smoking…”
For now, you have to self preserve. With the information available to us, it is your responsibility to weigh your options. Shame on anyone that takes advice from an expert at face value.
Thank you Carry
On a related matter, I struggle with my attitude and level of inspiration about an overweight trainer at my gym. She teaches one of the cardio/weight training classes I attend twice weekly. She told me that some weeks she teaches up to 8 classes a week. I’ve been going to her for 3 years and in that time she has not lost an inch. I would guess that she is at least 60-80 pounds overweight. Of course, I have never asked her about it. For all I know it’s a genetic thing she cannot correct. But here’s the truth..I find that I don’t work out as hard when she teaches vs. when I attend the same class taught by much fitter and more energetic trainers. Thoughts?
It is such a touchy topic. Nutrition expresses our genes. I learned that after my heart disease diagnosis. China Study showed a direct correlation between turning on cancer cells and turning them off using caseine in milk. As far as the overweight fitness instructor, its her life and she is living it. Maybe its the food, maybe genes, maybe its in the stars… she is trying and that is awesome. Not so long ago I was 240 pds and running marathons… I am sure people were commenting on my appearance… I am rambling, I need to think about this topic again. Thank you Laurie. Ian