Booze Is on the Menu at Some Hospitals

At some hospitals, you just might be able to enjoy a glass of wine alongside your Jell-O and boiled carrots. Indiana’s Parkview Ortho Hospital is the latest to allow patients or family members to bring alcohol in—with doctor’s approval, of course—and it’s not the only one. According to the Association for Healthcare Foodservice, a Tennessee medical center and “many other healthcare facilities” stock beer, wine, and sometimes liquor, NPR reports.

Of course, sometimes alcohol is actually prescribed to keep patients from suffering alcohol withdrawal, but at Parkview, it’s often served with a nice steak or salmon dinner—another perk the hospital offers in order to attract patients, the Journal Gazette reports. Sounds like one way to make a hospital stay much more hospitable, but not everyone is a fan: One expert calls it “mind-boggling,” and says, “Of all the places, hospitals should be educating patients about healthy dietary habits.”
(More hospital stories.)