Who Says a Hospital Stay Can't Be Fun?
Gourmet dining, fine art—some patients even get field trips
Concierge services. Wi-Fi connections. Art on the walls. Staid is out, amenities are in, as hospitals try to stand out from the crowd. Century City Doctors Hospital in Los Angeles extols its menu, created by celeb chef Wolfgang Puck, and the flat-screen TVs in all rooms. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York has an afternoon tea service. And M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston offers patients field trips to local museums and attractions.
The healthcare industry needs to understand and appreciate "what makes our customers tick," says Gerard van Grinsven, CEO of Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, slated to open next spring in the upscale Detroit suburb. ("Customers" rather than "patients" comes naturally to van Grinsven, a former vice president of the Ritz-Carlton chain.)
What's cooking? The new hospital will grow some of its own produce; a wellness center, walking path, cooking classes, and shops are intended to make it more of a community draw. All rooms will have mini refrigerators, and in-hospital lodging for families will be free.
None of this should come as a surprise, says Rick Wade, a senior vice president of the American Hospital Association. Letting patients maintain their Facebook pages or order their favorite comfort food while they're laid up shows that a hospital cares about creature comforts. And that just might increase market share.
Reader Comments
It's fun only up to a certain point
I work in one of the two hospitals mentioned in the article. We give patients luxury amenities not widely available in other hospitals because of their disease, and coming in for chemotherapy every few weeks is horrific. We want as much as possible to make an otherwise horrible stay pleasant and to give some semblance of normalcy.
That being said, some posts here are expecting private rooms and unreasonable services from the staff. Look, you're in the HOSPITAL getting treated, not staying at the Ritz Carlton for a vacation. You have a procedure? You're NPO for safety reasons. Live with it. Maybe the reason why you're getting a heart procedure in the first place is because you're always hungry. If you want waiters, maids, a nice dinner served on porcelain, a full night's sleep, and private rooms, bring your private team of health care people to Cabo San Lucas and book an entire floor at a 5-star hotel for your treatment like some of the Hollywood stars. You may be paying for your stay, but apparently not enough that your insurance will allow you a private room. Show some compassion for your roommate, jeesh. It's not all about you.
This is not why I went into medicine.
People absolutely deserve to be comfortable while in a hospital and deserve to be treated with respect by nurses, doctors, and other staff members. However, lets not forget that there are people who will never make it into our hospitals and clinics because they have nothing. They toil in silence, dying of treatable diseases and mental illnesses on the very same streets on which we live and work every day. Many more are uninsured or underinsured despite being full-time employees and are left shut out of our health care system.
All too often, arguments are made about rationing health care, with brilliant individuals making the excuse that it would be nice to cover everyone and provide care, but there simply isn't enough money to go around. When we start offering amenities like gourmet meals, LCD televisions, and concierge services, we must ask who in our society is benefiting and at the expense of whom?
Cesar's Sainai Beverly Hills
I've spent alot of time in Cedars Sinai hospital.In the heart of Beverly Hills,Ca.It was supposed to be one of the best hospitals in the world.All the movie stars go there.It was horrible.Couldn't choke down the food.It was a torcherous nightmare.
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