Spoonful of sugar: Baking fresh cookies for patients (video)

Close your eyes and imagine the scent of freshly baked cookies wafting through the air. In your mind, where do you picture yourself? At your grandmother’s house? A quaint bakery? How about a hospital?

Yes, although uncommon in a health care setting, on any given weekday morning at Sharp Coronado Hospital, patients, visitors and staff are greeted by the aroma of freshly baked cookies upon entering the main lobby.

Each cookie, neatly wrapped in a white paper bag, is delightfully displayed in a wicker basket in the main lobby for people to grab and enjoy for free. The sweet treats are baked and delivered to various departments by hospital volunteers. Dorene Friedman, affectionately called the “Cookie Queen,” is the lead volunteer baker.

“It’s enjoyable when you get to see the reaction that people have to receiving our cookies,” says Friedman. “There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked cookies in your house. Now, imagine people’s responses when they get that smell in a hospital, of all places. They can’t believe that a hospital provides freshly baked cookies to visitors and patients.”

The sweetness of The Sharp Experience

Since 2002, volunteers like Friedman from the Sharp Coronado Auxiliary have been baking cookies in a special oven located in the hospital’s main lobby. The kind gesture began as a way to provide The Sharp Experience and is part of Sharp Coronado’s commitment to being a Planetree-certified hospital.

“As a Planetree‑certified hospital, we are committed to providing person‑centered care,” says Victoria Risovanny, manager of patient relations and volunteer services at Sharp Coronado Hospital. “We want every visitor to feel welcomed, relaxed and cared for from the moment they arrive.”

Spreading cheer — and treats

Volunteers bake roughly 150 cookies each weekday using pre-made Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough. Cookies come in a variety of flavors, but Friedman’s favorite flavor is oatmeal raisin. However, she says that the hands-down favorite among recipients is chocolate chip.

“My favorite response to our cookies is from the patients who have come to the hospital fasting, prior to getting lab tests done,” says Friedman. “After their test, their eyes light up when they are able to consume what they have been smelling all morning.”

In addition to having the cookie basket in the main lobby, volunteers will roam the hospital’s first floor to distribute cookies to patients in the radiology and laboratory departments, as well as in the outpatient clinics.

“Baking these cookies makes our hospital unique by providing such a simple service,” smiles Friedman. “I love the chance to make people’s days a little brighter, as well as my own, by being able to bring a little sweetness into their lives.”

Watch the above video to learn more about Sharp Coronado Hospital and the volunteers who bake cookies for patients.

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