CutieYellow Posted November 4, 2006 Report Share Posted November 4, 2006 Currently in Toronto @ Sick Kids and when i first arrived here i couldn't believe the hospitals - Insane how everything is commercialized - there's not only a Tim Hortons, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks and many many other food courts places... but there's also a Shopper's Drug Mart, a Root store, a natural food store, a greeting cards store, a toy store and a few kiosks where they sell either purses, jewelry or clothing depending on the day. I was definitely very surprised because that is definitely not the case in hospitals in Quebec City. We do get stuck with crappy hospital food in dubious cafeterias Anyhow, was wondering if this was specific to Toronto hospitals or if it was that commercialized in the rest of Canada ? I've been to a few Montreal and all Qc City hospitals and there is no such thing. Questioning out of curiosity of course -as i'm in the process of applying for residency, gotta find my Timmy's... lol. CY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsteen Posted November 4, 2006 Report Share Posted November 4, 2006 Hi there, The Toronto hospital commercialization is certainly a more recent phenomenon, i.e., occurred within the past 5-7 years or so. (I did enjoy my regular morning Starbucks at Sick Kids or Second Cup at Sunnybrook. ) However, in Calgary, we have a mini-commercialization happening with a Good Earth coffee shop at the Foothills. It's certainly not gone to the extent of the TO hospitals, but it's a start. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kels Posted November 4, 2006 Report Share Posted November 4, 2006 Oh, it's happening out in Vancouver too! Our children's hospital has a Starbucks, Second cup, and Timmie's! Vancouver General Hosp just opened a brand new ambulatory care building that has much of our medical school/library in it... and a Shopper's! The cafe in that building is not open yet, but one should be coming soon! It's crazy, but nice for those long days on call! The smaller peripheral hospitals mainly just have a small cafeteria, non-brand name coffe shop, and gift shop though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyMax Posted November 4, 2006 Report Share Posted November 4, 2006 Hey, That phenomenon is definitely not restricted to Toronto! When I was on elective, the U of A hospital reminded me more of the Eaton Centre in Toronto than a hospital! Apparently they were both designed by the same architect. Now if only London would get into the act so that we don't have to eat the overpriced, sucky food that they serve in their crapeterias! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBCGuy Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 In Calgary the old children's hospital (the site moved a month and a half ago) didn't have any commercialization to speak of. Just the typical cafeteria, gift shop, and little cafe grill run by the hospital. Came back to Vancouver before the move so can't comment on the new site. I don't have anything against having private food places in a hospital (though having a Burger King seems to me to be sending mixed messages). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyMax Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Hey, though having a Burger King seems to me to be sending mixed messages I definitely agree- there's nothing like fixing up your typical obese, DMII, HTN, hyperlipidemic NSTEMI patient just so that they can get a head start on that next heart attack without even having to leave the hospital! I wonder if you can "order in" that kind of stuff up to your hospital bed?!? Who wouldn't want fries with their thrombolytics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CutieYellow Posted November 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 The cafeteria in Quebec City hospitals, as craptacular as they were, actually had employee pricing though, so the main meal ranged from 2.85-3 bucks, so that was good on the budget. It has a huge combo meal for less than 5 bucks. So all in all, it was nicer on the budget than the current Subway, Burger King, Teriyaki, Pizza Pizza, sushi and all that available @ Sick Kids. Just a sandwich at Starbucks is like 6.50. Which is insane (you should see them - so not worth it). Although my wallet doesn't like it so much, my taste buds do however. And i agree about the Burger King - still surprised there isn't a McD's I see patients at the Burger King all the time lol. Yay for fries with thrombolytics. CY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachy Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I definitely agree- there's nothing like fixing up your typical obese, DMII, HTN, hyperlipidemic NSTEMI patient just so that they can get a head start on that next heart attack without even having to leave the hospital! We're talking about Sick Kids here not an adult hospital; if a kid with cancer feels like having their favorite comfort food then I think they ought to have access to it. And in any case, there are tons of options at the hospital, and there are even healthy options at Burger King, nobody is being forced to buy a double cheeseburger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyMax Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Hey, We're talking about Sick Kids here not an adult hospital; if a kid with cancer feels like having their favorite comfort food then I think they ought to have access to it. And in any case, there are tons of options at the hospital, and there are even healthy options at Burger King, nobody is being forced to buy a double cheeseburger. Ummm, yeah, whatever! It'll just be a matter of time before other hospitals follow suit. And with childhood obesity on the rise, that's all we need is a BK to offer that good old "comfort" food that their soon to be DMII metabolism craves... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackers Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 The discrepancy is between healthy food at inconvenient hours (for the medical staff) and having a company that will pay rent in a hospital to provide standardized double cheeseburgers at hours the staff may have time to eat them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CutieYellow Posted November 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 Now that i think about it, leukemia patients can only eat at McDonalds - due to their immunocompromised state - only McD's is sterile enough. Though i do agree with TimmyMax - obesity is on the rise, and kids that are hospitalized do NOT eat at Burger king - they have hospital food right CY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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