IF I BOUGHT A HOSPITAL (or, who bought these horrible beds, anyway?)

I am not a doctor.  But In 2012, a surgery center and three hospitals in four months gave me a lot to think about.  A lot  to be frustrated about.  

One article about Dennis Quaid's hospital activism said responsibility for a hospital rests with the board of directors.  If I bought a hospital, I guess there would be a board.  And of course, I would be the chairman.  Why not?

So, I started a little plan for things I would change:

1. Each board member will be "a patient" for 36 hours in a room I designate.  This member is to remain anonymous during this test.

2. There will be a list in our public and supporters' magazine of specific items we will accept donations and memorials for.  Period. There will be no lavish reception areas on this list. 

3.  No visitor's lounge can be more comfortable than a room where a patient is waiting to register or waiting for a scary test.  Visitors will not be drinking coffee in full view of a patients' waiting room.  That's just good manners, after all.

4  Rooms where patients wait must have a variety of furniture sizes so that no one is tormented by a chair.  A patient awaiting tests or registration will be given a beeper to enable him to get his pills out of the car, go to the rest room, or visit the garden. 

5. Inpatients and outpatients must have a view of nature - at least of the sky. When this has been accomplished, what space is left can be used for staff offices.

6. No money will be spent on a garden unless every patient can access it.   

7.  One specific person will be responsible for supervising, not just ordering, installations and repairs in patients' rooms.  

8. Staff must be seen washing their hands in the patients' rooms. And no one leaves a patient's room until the patient has water, if allowed, and a book, call button, and reachable phone.

9. A text or Email will be sent to each staff member when a treatment or test is moved to a different area, and each staff member will be  responsible for sending patients to the right place.

10.  All signage on the campus and on any off-campus street a patient will need to use will be reviewed and made useful. Strangers will be hired to test the efficacy of all signage, and rules of readability will take precedence over color and style.

I will follow up with a list of good things at least one hospital is doing on some of these issues.

Please comment with items you want on this list!