Fat people can't work at Texas hospital

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/04/09/texas-hospital-fat-people-bmi-need-not-apply?hpt=hp_t2

So a Texas hospital has a policy to not hire individuals whose BMI is 35 or greater, so as to set an image example to patients about being healthy.

It spurs an interesting debate: Is this a bias that can be challenged under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or is it proper for a healthcare provider to promote an image of good health within its walls.

It's not so much fat people they won't hire, but morbidly obese people. A person who stands 6'1 would have to weight 265 for a BMI of 35. That's not just carrying a few extra pounds, that's big.

Tough call, but it seems to fall under similar measures as not allowing employees to smoke on hospital grounds, even outside. It's kind of hard to tell people what they need to do to be healthy if the staff appears to be doing the exact opposite. A gym, for instance, I don't think could be required to hire someone who is fat as a personal trainer, even if that person has the knowledge to do it.

 

They've also instituted a new hiring policy that mandates all nurses must be female, blonde, no older than 26 and "hot as shit."

 

So they've hired Bobby Petrino as their new HR director?

 

I don't think so.

 

Well, there goes my chance of being hired. I'm 5' 10", 255 and it's not like I'm round or anything.

 

This hospital will cave quickly. Victoria is no metro area and this hospital is no Tenet or Baylor mega-chain outfit with the bucks to defend a suit.

 

I'd submit that the move is less about promoting a healthy image than it is reducing their cost of providing health insurance benefits to their employees. The image thing, I guess, sounds more palatable from a PR standpoint.

That said, the lawsuits seem likely to come on two fronts: 1.) Discrimination, which is what I read from FB's post above and 2.) After somebody dies because the hospital is understaffed because of this policy.

Here's my question: Is there any effective way to combat obesity that doesn't seem Draconian? In Georgia, there was a recent series of PSAs that leaned toward ostracizing fat people. In one, this fat kid looks up at his fat mom and says, "Mom, why am I fat?" Are we going to completely take the gloves off? Is that what's going to be required to achieve the desired results?

 

They can just hang a "No Fat Chicks" sign right next to the one that says "No Smoking."

 

Is this hospital really going to have that difficult of a time finding staff who have a BMI under 35 that it will be understaffed?

As for the health insurance point, would that really reduce costs? I've never been asked to submit any health records when I signed up for a company insurance plan. My health insurance companies never had a clue whether I weighed 170 pounds or 235 pounds, so I'm thinking the premiums they charged had nothing to do with my BMI.

The more I'm thinking about this, the more I think I come down on the side of the hospital. The restriction isn't "Draconian." It's not like they are hiring only models to work there. I weighed as much as 233 pounds at one point. I'm 6'1" and I still would have had to gain 32 pounds to exceed their BMI restrictions.

I know I personally would have a hard time listening to a doctor tell me I needed to lose weight or watch my cholesterol if he's pushing 275 pounds, just like I'd probably never listen to a personal trainer tell I should run five miles if he's out of shape.

There's no doubt it's tricky. I'm not generally in favor of employment restrictions on people who can otherwise do a job effectively. But I do think being morbidly obese can inhibit a health care worker's ability to get through to a patient who suffers from weight-related health issues.

 

It's not a foregone conclusion, but it's possible. Victoria is a small town in the middle of nowhere. Just from that, the pool of available applicants would seem to be limited.

BP, what they knew when they hired you isn't relevant. Overweight people are at increased risk for a wide variety of health problems, which increases the likelihood they'll actually have to file claims on their health insurance. This drives up premiums. If this hospital is like most employers, they pay the majority of the premium, and when they have a lot of employee health claims the insurance company increases the premium.

I guess we're arguing semantics here, but when they take what many would view as an insensitive measure - and that's my sense here - to me that at least drifts toward Draconian. My question is, is that what it's going to take? If people know their livelihoods are at stake, will they make different lifestyle choices so as not to become obese? And is that the only effective way to combat pervasive obesity?

 

TigerVols just got a long horn, and he doesn't know why.