There is a new trend in hospitals that I think is very cool.  I am calling it a recognition of the patient and family. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be in the hospital in the first place, but say you have to be there for some reason.  Well, checking out and getting home to your own bed is not all that easy.  First all the papers to fill out, just to get out, then getting out the front door and then getting to the car.  Oh, then there’s the stop at the pharmacy on the way home, and maybe grocery store.  It’s a lot before you can breathe easier and get back to home base.  It’s exhausting.

El Camino Hospital has something new….they built a spa, conveniently located right across the hall from the pharmacy.  This means you have a really relaxing place to sit while waiting for your medications…and maybe even get a massage, or just listen to nice music.  It smells delicious too.  And there are all sorts of wonderful gifts that feel good—creams, bath balls, aromatherapy, anything you need to make a gentle exit from hospital to home.  It’s like exiting through a nice tropical forest, which is so calming, and so much more gentle then just wheeling out into a parking lot.

I think this effort is a smart idea.  It seems to connect with the person instead of the patient.