My bed just rocked and rolled to Esbo hospital but I have no TV in my room
My valiant bed-pusher struggles hard to hold us on a straight course. Like a broken shopping cart, my old bed is rocking with the sound of ‘knockety-knock’ while trying to pull us to the side. I enjoy the views when we pass the glassed transport-tube between old Jorv to the new Esbo Hospital. Jorv was built in the 1970-ies and Esbo Hospital opened five months ago. Jorv, as a building, is not the worst representative of the 70-ies architectural era, but I would not miss it for a second if they tear it down. Looking back from my bed, I praise evolution which forces aging and death on us. Time prevented those 70-ies architects and ideas from staying in power for too long. Both internally and externally Jorv represents the past. I am rolling in my bed from this past to the future. From materialist reductionist healthcare to a mindful awareness. From cramp, overcrowded and ugly — to open spaces, light and aesthetics. I can smell ‘holisticism’ in the air. From being content, I suddenly feel happy.
Finally, we reach my new room. I had been warned by envious nurses in my old ward that all the 270 rooms here are ‘single bed’ and absurdly large. But the room is even better than I had expected. I have stayed in more than a thousand hotel rooms during my life, but few are more stylishly designed than this. The room is big and even my bathroom is bigger than my eldest daughter’s student-flat in Kingston. I have a large leather armchair for my quickly aging friends who might come and visit. My office desk is perfect for working on my vagus stimulation devices. The wall behind my bed does NOT look like Viktor Frankenstein’s laboratory. Someone has prevented GE-Healthcare from making it into one more of their ‘product-placement’ spaces. I will happily spend my next seven days here.
And, the most important innovation here is NOT what there is — but what IS MISSING. Here is no TV. A year ago, I visited the newly opened Stanford Healthcare hospital in San Francisco. It is rated as one of the best in the US. It is also one of the most expensive. Our tour guide bragged about how many zillions it had costed to build. The first thing he did in the ‘demo-room’, was putting on the TV and showing some of the thousands of features you could do with it. The TV was hyper-mega-sized and built into the wall as if it was a mother Mary statue. That room ‘smelled’ money. It was full of electronics and the interior designer must have been come directly from Trump Tower in Las Vegas. Esbo hospital has style. I didn’t know that one could say that about a hospital.
The quality/price ratio is also mind-bogglingly in Esbo’s favour. At Stanford Healthcare’s hospital the average daily cost is more than 3000 euro. Here I am paying 35 euro per night. It’s good to be a Finn because the Finnish government in this comparison values its citizens 85 times more than what the American government value theirs. Since we can afford it, we must also be richer than America. Government leaders tend to invest the people’s money in what they value the most. I like to see where people place their values.
And back to the interesting stuff. So, why no TV? It was a very brave move to build Finland’s newest hospital and intentionally leave out TV:s in the rooms. In single rooms, you don’t even have to argue about who keeps the remote control. Instead of the TV-screen, I have a small painting. In light beige and blue it depicts a door ajar with a glimpse of a bookshelf in the next room. A small chair beside the door is there if one need’s a rest before entering the room of words. It reminds me of Vilhelm Hammershoy’s paintings. I like it very much. It is an excellent muse.
The fixed TV:s are left out in order to activate patients. They want us to move to the common ‘get-together’ space if we want to look at TV. I am not going to do it because the WIFI is fast and I watch films on my own PC. Appointments, medical information and communication are to be taken care in the cloud with separate pads. We eat dinner in the common space — not served in the bed. They want patients to meet other patients. I feel young again because my sick-mates are all older than me. From three charming ladies I learned a lot about how to break a hip bone.
It seems like these doctors have discovered that physical movement is more than physiotherapy. They have also discovered that the mind helps to heal the body. By pampering the mind, patients here become better, quicker. They leave the hospital earlier than before. I am astonished. There is hope for mankind and healthcare after all.
Gustaf
