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After Criticism, UNC Renames Krispy Kreme Challenge Children's Clinic

Brian Strickland
/
news.unchealthcare.org
UNC leaders celebrated the Park Scholars commitment to UNC Children's when the initial name was announced.

UNC Health Care is changing the name of a children's clinic in Raleigh to make clear it has nothing to do with doughnuts. That's after many in the medical community at UNC and nationwide ridiculed the initial name chosen: the KrispyKreme Challenge Children's Specialty Clinic.

That name was both a free and unintentional advertisement for the Winston-Salem based doughnut company. The children's specialty clinic was actually named after a charity race organized by N.C. State students on prestigious Park scholarships. It involves pounding a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts and running 5 miles.

But public health professors said it was ridiculous to have a junk food as even part of the clinic's name. UNC Children's spokeswoman Mary Cole Pike says, we listened.   

"That was a big part of the discussion, just wanted to make sure that when people saw the specialty clinic and saw the name that they knew where it came from and what it was tied to," she says. "We feel like this new name more closely represents the Park Scholars' generosity."

It now has a much more straightforward name: The N.C. State Park Scholars Children's Specialty Clinic. The Park Scholars have committed to raise $2 million for UNC Children's hospital and clinics. Student leaders say they're OK with the name change: they just want to raise money for children's health care.