A Washington, D.C.-based physician group is urging Fort Worth, Texas-based John Peter Smith Hospital to end its partnership with McDonald's once the fast food chain's contract expires in 2019, according to an editorial published in the Star-Telegram.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine claimed having the popular fast food chain at the hospital "sends the wrong message," the report states.
"You wouldn't expect your dentist to sell candy bars," Lee Crosby, a registered dietitian for PCRM, told WFAA-8 News. "So, it's pretty much equally surprising that McDonald's is selling artery-clogging fast food in a hospital, which is the very place you go to try and recover from things like heart disease."
The committee also placed interior ads on more than 130 Fort Worth city buses with slogans urging patients to choose healthier meal choices. The ads featured statements like"Your heart's not lovin' those cheeseburgers," Fox-4 News reports. However, the ads do not mention the specific franchise location or the hospital.