The Most Humble of Hostility, er, Hospitality...

I get really worried when I start to see entertainment forcing its way into places it may not be welcome. In Lonsway's chapter, there is a section that discusses the transformation of hospitals in UEDs, and my immediate reaction to such ideas is visceral and negative. I'm not saying there's not potential in hospitals that focus on 'maintaining health' instead of 'treating illness', and I'm all for positive attitudes, but the examples I've seen just seem far too geared at making money and making the hospital a "destination", which I believe far exceeds its programmatic nature.

I've been to Dartmouth Hitchcock and as far as that goes, I think its fine. A food court in a hospital is wonderful, especially with the reputations that hospital cafeterias so often have. That being said though, I find it hard to believe Sloane and Sloane's notion that it's becoming a popular hang-out spot for teens, even if it is the only fast food joint in the area. Every time I've been there, despite the 'mall architecture', the atmosphere is nothing like a mall due largely in part to the clientel; The fact that half the people are in wheel chairs or give off the distinct impression of illness is a large departure from the clientel typical malls see. I don't think there's anything wrong with these kind of varying demographics, but the distinction should be made between what the hospital food court 'feels like' and the typical kind.

It's places like Celebration Health that start to frighten me. I’m infinitely curious how a place like that deals with the terminally ill patients, especially when they so transparently are trying to run a business (people may say the same for some typical hospitals as well, but generally when you're in a hospital you know the primary goal is to heal and not to sell). Places like Celebration Health already admit to separating the paying health club enthusiast and the frightened hospital patient awaiting treatment. Is it all about image, or do they really care? Are the truly ill tucked away so no one is depressed by them? Are they told until the very end that they’re on the path to recovery and everything will be fine? Are visiting hours at odd times so that weeping family members won't intersect the pompous aristocrat who just came from a Thai Poultice Massage? As Lonsway says, it really seems to be maintaining the status quo. It's too bad, because I agree that “If all 'guests,' patients and spa members alike, were pampered equally – medically, therapeutically, and architecturally – then, perhaps, we could have a more hospitable hospital.” (290) The trick is how to do it.

I have to admit that going into the idea of a UED Hospital, I couldn't help but immediately think of a couple of family guy moments that explore an exaggerated (but who knows? It could happen...) potential of 'entertainment' hospitals. One was Peter doing stand up for terminally ill kids, where the difficulty kept arising that the kids wouldn't be able to relate to stand up humor since it inherently tends to be about trivialities in life, things the terminally ill tend not to fret about as much as the average comedy club enthusiast.


"I was the DMV the other day. Long lines at the DMV, but you’ll find that out when you’re old..er...(awkward pause)”
-Peter Griffin

The other is a doctor having trouble telling his patient that he has AIDS, so he thinks a singing Barbershop quartet will soften the blow. The point, I think, is that some issues need to be dealt with seriously and while in many cases humor makes things easier to deal with (politics from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert), turning something like telling you 'you're going to die' into a laughing matter is very thin ice to tread on. Bill Cosby's done stand up for terminally ill kids and I believe it went over very well. After coming to terms with a condition that you can't do anything about, it might make you feel better if your friends wrote you a song about it, I don't know. I believe it's all possible, but requires some pretty in depth exploration and a very specific mindset of what you're setting out to do.

YOU HAVE AIDS