As we moved around M. D. Anderson, there were eye-opening surprises.
• Large comfortable weighting rooms
• Soft music and soft-lighted scanning rooms
• Gourmet-level food in the dining room
• Fresh newspapers, magazines and coffee delivered every day
• Usually not one, but two attendees at any desk
• A computerized screen in the waiting room indicating current status of any patient away for scanning
• A commitment to schedule; if they say it will be an hour, it’s not much more than an hour.
• A great number of auxiliary services—counseling, exercise, meditation, yoga, seminars on problems and diet, a free barbershop offering wigs and head covers, wheel chairs at all entrances to buildings, golf-carts to move people through a quarter-mile sky-walk, etc.
The list goes on and on. It was like they were telling the patients and care-givers that “We understand your life is hard and we’re going to help make it easier.”
What a blessing!
Friday, February 27, 2009
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2 comments:
Hi Ted
I'm in medical residency here in Atlanta and am very familar with the fine work that M. D. Anderson provides. I've spent most of my time lately in hospital rooms and labs. And we usually don't have time to socialize with patients. So to hear the patients'views and activities from the waiting room perspective is quite interesting. Thanks for your fine synopsis and best wishes to your wife.
Paul Crocker
It is helpful to chat with others in those waiting rooms and hear their stories. A good opener is to wonder where they have traveled from. Some patients may have been coming for years and are feeling quite well. so you will feel hopeful. Others may be new like yourselves . Either way it is nice to be connected to others during those lengthy waits. You may not always feel like reading or may have trouble concentrating on much. Sometimes you may just want to stay in your own zone which of course is fine.
Carol F.
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