Brigid TitgemeierBeingBrigid Functional Nutrition · Transforming Women's Health Using Food as Medicine

The Bold Move That Shook Cleveland Clinic’s Culture

14 Oct 2025 · 0 min

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In this brief interview, a Cleveland Clinic leader explains two controversial cultural initiatives undertaken at the hospital: the removal of sugar‑sweetened drinks from vending machines and the decision to paint the entire facility a stark white. The speaker describes the rationale behind each change—promoting healthier choices for patients and staff, and creating a visual environment that signals cleanliness, organization, and a scientific atmosphere. Both actions provoked significant pushback from staff and the public, yet the leader argues that the visual impact and health messaging were worth the resistance, highlighting how design and policy can shape institutional culture.

I thought that it was important to try and feed people the right sort of food and to set an example of how to take place. I think it probably got more pushback when I said we're going to take the sugar drinks out of the vending machines of the Cleveland Clinic than I did anything else.
I remember that.
Got almost as much grief about that as I did painting everything white.
That is true for people that have never been to the Cleveland Clinic. It is all white.
There was a reason for the dull white. I think people come to a place and they want A, clean and B, they want to have it look like it was organized finally. They wanted to have it look. Look like it's sort of scientific. And I don't think you have a hospital that looks like you're sitting in their living room. And so that's what we did. And there's certainly been mixed reviews about it, but it does stand out and it does, I think, convey those sorts of impressions.