Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park recently became the first hospital in the country to sell hijabs, a scarf that covers the hair of religious Muslim women. By doing this, the hospital will help patients and staff alike.

Due to St. Louis Park’s high population of Muslims, there is a need in hospitals for religious Muslim garb. According to kstp.com, before the hospital sold hijabs, many patients and medical staff would just put blankets over their heads. This should not be the case for these women, as this dilemma is easily fixable.

Selling hijabs doesn’t only benefit the Muslim community, it will also benefit the staff and patients in the hospital. The funds received from the sales of the hijabs will go toward educating medical personnel to further gain insight into the health of patients.

The hijabs are definitely a great addition to the hospital gift shop. However, it does raise some controversy, as selling religious garb could cause uncertainty among others. For instance, while it is a great idea for Methodist Hospital to sell hijabs, they don’t sell any other religious garb, even though there are many doctors and patients of other religions at the hospital.

If Methodist Hospital wants to avoid any sort of trouble, they should try to be as inclusive as they can in terms of providing more religious artifacts. This may include adding kippahs and crucifixes to their gift shop, as well as artifacts from other religions. 

This is important because hospitals are a place where many people get in touch with their religion, and Methodist Hospital has the ability to go above the standard of other hospitals to assist people in practicing their religion more conveniently. Furthermore, this could make minorities feel more welcome, especially immigrants who are still new to the Twin Cities.

Methodist Hospital is setting a wonderful example for other hospitals by accommodating the religious needs of patients and staff. Hopefully other hospitals will follow suit and take a step further to service other religions as well.