I wanted to share with you an unbelievable story I saw this week that I first thought was something out of the spoof news website The Onion when I initially saw it. The headlines read like it was a complete joke: This children’s hospital just changed its name to ‘Krispy Kreme’; How did Krispy Kreme get its name on a children’s clinic?; UNC Draws Flak for Naming Children’s Clinic after Donut Maker, among many others. When I dug deeper into this story, imagine my surprise when I learned that the University of North Carolina (UNC) Children’s Hospital has actually been officially renamed (NOT A JOKE!) the Krispy Kreme Challenge Children’s Specialty Clinic with a commitment to give $2 million to the hospital by 2020. The obvious irony in having “Krispy Kreme” directly in the name of a hospital dedicated to treating sick kids wasn’t lost on doctors who find this new name abhorrent. It’s utterly reprehensible that something like this would be allowed to happen seemingly with the blessing of the powers that be.
I took to Periscope on Friday to express my disgust and concerns about this new name for the UNC Children’s Hospital in the following video:
With corporate sponsorship of medical entities, the lines of demarkation between special interests of for-profit companies and public health have clearly become blurred. This is a very real conflict of interest and will not be good for the University of North Carolina with the outrage they are going to hear from people about this. I encouraged my followers to reach out to them directly to politely but firmly share their thoughts to UNC Children’s Hospital through their various social media pages:
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/uncchildrens
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ncchildrenshospital
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/uncchildrens
CALL THEM: 984-974-1000
But then this story took an entirely new and disappointing turn late Friday afternoon when the Communications Director at UNC Children’s named Danielle M. Bates officially responded to the headlines and concerns being expressed about the new name of the UNC Children’s Hospital. Claiming this name change has NOTHING to do with the Krispy Kreme doughnuts company, Bates instead said the new name simply pays homage to a student-led race known as The Krispy Kreme Challenge that happens to have the name of the famous high-carb business in it. Here’s the official statement made by Bates on behalf of UNC Children’s Hospital that is bizarre as it is tone deaf to the real issue at hand here:
Bates claims this gift has NOTHING to do with Krispy Kreme the doughnut company and is merely about a race (where the students run half the race, eat a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and then run the second half of the race) that happens to have that company’s name in it. With all due respect, Ms. Bates, this is a complete copout and an unacceptable marketing-speak response. Whether it’s directly an endorsement by the doughnuts company or not (which according to the Sponsors page for the Challenge, they are listed as a Silver Sponsor), the fact their name is prominently in the new name of a clinic designed to treat sick kids strikes a major chord of irony. While you chide those who disagree with this new name as making “an erroneous assumption” about it, the unquestionable result of this for anyone with a brain involved is putting Krispy Kreme in an undeserved positive light within a healthcare setting. That’s why there is outrage and why your response is making things worse.
It sounds like Danielle M. Bates needs to hear from us about this indefensible position she holds now more than ever if you are concerned that this is sending the wrong message. You can email her at her public email address at dbates@med.unc.edu or by calling her at 978-974-8870. This issue is far from over. A Change.org petition has already been started to lobby the Physician-in-Chief at University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital Dr. A. Wesley Burks and the Dean of the School of Medicine William L. Roper, M.D., M.P.H. to NOT put Krispy Kreme in the name of their UNC Children’s Hospital. I urge you to sign sign it and make your voice heard.
SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION HERE!
