The first all-vegan hospital has just made history. The honor goes to Hayek Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. We congratulate them and hope to see many other hospitals follow suit.

The hospital says, “Our patients will no longer wake up from surgery to be greeted with ham, cheese, milk….the very food[s] that may have contributed to their health problems in the first place.” The hospital goes on to say,

“There’s an elephant in the room that no one wants to see:

• When the World Health Organization classifies processed meat as group 1A carcinogenic (causes cancer) same group as tobacco and red meat as group 2A carcinogenic, then serving meat in a hospital is like serving cigarettes in a hospital.

• When the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) declare that 3 out of 4 new or emerging infectious diseases come from animals.

• When adopting a plant-based exclusive diet has been scientifically proven not only to stop the evolution of certain diseases but it can also reverse them.

We then, have the moral responsibility to act upon and align our beliefs with our actions, taking the courage to look at the elephant in the eye. We believe it’s well about time to tackle the root cause of diseases and pandemics, not just treat symptoms.”

It’s long past due that all hospitals come out of denial and recognize the elephant in the room. Patients deserve nothing less.