Why are hospitals so devilishly uncomfortable?

I linked to an article In this thread about the importance of sleep and it discusses some efforts to improve this for patients.

I worked in a hospital where the menu was designed and cooked by volunteer chefs from the community who picked inexpensive and healthy ingredients and made them delicious. People used to actually come to the hospital just to eat at the cafeteria. (Then we got some administrators from the Big City who felt our hospital should use the same big companies as bigger hospitals. They did not save much money, the quality plummeted and they alienated selfless and knowledgeable volunteers. But apart from that it was a great success. The food was okay, maybe more convenient to distribute, just not delicious).