Longtime Volunteers Video: Sharp Memorial Hospital

Two dedicated volunteers get a sneak peek at the new Sharp Memorial Hospital before it opens.

For More Information: Find a Sharp-affiliated doctor or learn more about Sharp Memorial Hospital.

Transcript

Doris: My name is Doris Heramb. I’m a volunteer. I am the coordinator of baby pictures.

Eleanor: I started volunteering here at the hospital in 1954. Doris and I were the first volunteers. So you can see how old I am, and I am — I’m old! This car is named after me.

Doris: And this one’s named after me!

Eleanor: There was nothing around us. Everybody wondered, who would go to the hospital way out there? This was the boonies! Yes it was! They’re going to let us in a new hospital and at least have a little peek! That’s what Doris and I are looking forward to.

Doris: It’s going to be amazing. Absolutely.

Sandy Noon, Vice President, Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus Planning and Development: People have seen the drawings and they just don’t get the sense of it until you walk them through the building. Then you get the oohs, the ahs, the wows.

Doris: That’s why you see that structure and everything, you can’t imagine anything like this, this was just amazing.

Sandy: The new buildings will contain all the patient beds, new operating suites and a new emergency department. The design of the exterior of the buildings is all glass, welcoming people into the building, not small punched out windows.

Doris: Look at this, Eleanor, my gosh. This is classy. Oh, this is great.

Sandy: When we designed the patient rooms, we went to all single patient rooms.

Doris: This is very slick. Eleanor, look what they’re going to have up here. Here’s the channels, you know, here’s your thingy, and all the patient has to do. And here’s this flat screen 32 inches LCD.

Eleanor: We’ll crawl in bed just so we can watch the TV!

(Laughing)

Sandy: Family members can sleep over. They don’t have to get a hotel or sleep upright in a chair, there’s a sleeper sofa there.

Doris: And of course it’s not going to be like that all of the time. People are going to be like this. Oh my gosh, look at this. It’s like a theater. A surgical theater. Wow. This is something.

Sandy: It’s all ultimately directed at the patient experience.

Doris: Now where’s the gift shop going to be?

Eleanor: In here somewhere. But I don’t know where.

Doris: That’s our moneymaker. We have to have a gift shop.