McDonald's to open second hospital unit March 21

Nation's Restaurant News, March 11, 1985 by Marilyn Alva

PHOENIX -- A franchised McDonald's restaurant will open March 21 at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, a 626-bed acute-care facility run here by the Sisters of Mercy of Burlingham, Calif.

The 90-seat outlet will have a salad bar in addition to a regular McDonald's menu. It will be open to the public and will make room deliveries to patients who prefer McMeals to their regular hospital diets.

This will be McDonal's second unit in a medical facility. The chain opened an outlet at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 1977.

Several major fast-food chains, including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Hardee's, have been opening units in nontraditional locations in recent years, such as armed force bases, zoos, transportation centers, office buildings and colleges.

The St. Joseph's McDonald's will replace a money-losing snack bar that served cold, prewrapped sandwiches and snacks. Hospital administrators who operated the snack bar say they are happy to see it go and even more pleased that a McDonald's will replace it.

"We're really excited about it,c said Jack Bowden, administrator for general services at St. Joseph's. He noted hospital officials approached two other fast-food chains, which showed no interest, before contacting McDonald's. He also said the company's initial response seemed lukewarm.

"But once they decided they wanted to get into the hospital, it seemed nothing was going to keep them from it," he added. The franchisee is Mack Macgruder; who has five other McDonald's in Arizona.

St. Joseph's Hospital stands to gain an annual rental fee and a percentage of gross sales. As far as outlay, all the hospital had to provide was larger electric lines to the former second-floor snack bar, which is located in the outpatient and admitting wing and connected to the main building by an elevated walkway.

All other renovations, including a new ventilation system and air-conditioning ducts, were made by McDonald's and its designated architect, a local Phoenix firm. Old equipment and furniture from the snack bar were hauled off so that the space could be completely "McDonaldized."

The new McDonald's will seat up to 90 customers, some of whom can choose to eat at table space in an outdoor patio area adjoining the restaurant. The menu will have everything other McDonald's stores in the Phoenix area have (including comparable prices) and more. The St. Joseph's McDonald's will also feature a salad bar, according to Bowden. McDonald's does no offer salads except in a handful of test units.

A 300-seat full-service hospital cafeteria that grosses more than $1 million a year will continue operating. Bowden said he expects the new McDonald's at the hospital to thin heavy cafeteria crowds that often cause long waits.

"It's just a very good thing for the community, the hospital and, some would say, even the patients," Bowden said.

The McDonald's store at St. Joseph's Hospital is expected to do at least as well as the one at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital, according to a company representative. And the Philadelphia McDonald's has an annual sales volume that exceeds the average per unit volume of $1.2 million, according to McDonald's.