PETA Wants 'Vegetarians-Only' Hiring at Hospitals
Hospital employees should be ambassadors of good health—and Chattanooga-based Memorial Health Care System is embracing this theory. Well, sort of. The company has announced that in an effort to "further our mission of building healthier communities," it will no longer hire smokers and tobacco chewers. Smooth move? It seems so—after all, as FierceHealthCare.com points out, "On average, smokers cost employers between $2,500 and $4,000 annually for healthcare costs in comparison to nonsmokers."
But why stop there? Let's not tiptoe around the tofu anymore. We've written to officials at Memorial Health Care System urging them to take it a step further and implement a "vegetarians-only" hiring policy for area hospitals.
Here's just one example of why a vegetarians-only policy makes sense: Maybe more than anyone else, hospital employees should have an understanding of and appreciation for the effects of an animal-free diet on human health. Sadly, during a recent hospital stay, my mom was stuck eating PBJs day in and day out because the attendants who took her meal requests didn't know what "vegan" meant and seemed not to want to bother to figure it out.
People, I ask you: How's that possible?! Our nation's heath is at stake: While politicians argue about health care legislation, emergency rooms all over the country are bursting at their sliding glass doors with victims of America's three biggest killers—heart disease, strokes, and cancer, the origins of which are often traced back to meaty, cheese-laden diets. Forget pill-popping—prevention of these diseases is our (and animals') best bet.
If schools knowingly hired alcoholics to drive school buses, then we as a society would be outraged. I can hear parents crying out, "Irresponsible! Dangerous! Bad example!" Shouldn't we be equally appalled that hospitals continue to hire meat-addicted, unhealthy health care workers to spoon-feed Salisbury steaks to our sick and injured friends and family members? Becoming stronger and healthier starts with the food that goes into our mouths—and can be as simple as saying "Sayonara, salami. Hello, gardein!"
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Now, reading over this article, I can find one small snag in the plan: I'd have to check the laws for various states, but I'm pretty sure there's a law in place against discrimination in hiring based on an individual's lifestyle choices. I'd be against refusing to hire smokers and tobacco chewers only if they actually tried lighting up inside the building, as that's an obvious health risk to everyone around them. But just because they happen to smoke? No.
If school 's knowingly hired alcoholics to drive school buses, people would be outraged because their behavior could endanger the children on the bus if they decided to drink on the job. There's not an outrage over non-vegetarians in hospitals because there has yet to be a news story in which a vegetarian patient is beaten senseless by a drumstick-wielding nurse.
It's idiotic ideas like this that keep most people from taking PETA seriously anymore (well that and the hypocrisy about euthanasia , but that's another matter).
that I respected and supported. But after the last few years I am becoming concerned about what will come next.
Do you think you are a religious organization?
Because as of late only religious organizations are telling the general public what they can and cannot do.
Maybe you could figure a way to ad Baptist or Catholic to your name, then no one would be surprised at actions. And you can tell people who they can marry as well.
Would this bias the need for some disorders to be treated with diets of meat ? Would this lead to the elimination of using capsules manufactured with animal products (increase costs)? Would this lead to obsessive-compulsive behavior by vegetarian staff to eliminate the use of any and all animal-based products in the hospital, and any medications developed as a result of research on animals ?
Look, my veggie friends, its time to veg and let veg when not working in medical settings. You guys are absolutely out of the "Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy." Let's obliterate the earth because the inhabitants there eat animals - good idea (sarcasm).