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 Children’s Hospital is a very busy and popular hospital in Boston Massachusetts where people from birth to age 21 are seen. Children’s Hospital is one on the greatest hospitals, known for its research studies, operations, and advancements in care. The hospitals mission is care, research, teach, and community. Many children from other countries have been transported to this hospital for emergency treatment and surgery’s. There are approximately 22,600 inpatient admissions and 23,000 surgical procedures reported each year. Additionally, there are more than 527, 500 people who visit Children’s Hospital annually.    When people enter Children’s Hospital the first thing they notice is the display of a huge glass maze of colorful balls that fall down and make a unique sound. In this hospital a variety of children are seen, children from sick newborn babies and children with disabilities, to children in wheel chairs and on crutches. The hospital is intended to make children happier and less scared, with paintings on walls, on ceilings in examining rooms, and fun entertainment around the hospital. This is a way to help keep sick children who are hospitalized with chronic diseases cheerful. Outside these hospitalized patient rooms they have paintings on the glass windows of cartoon characters and for the boys they have paintings of sports. They also have balloons outside these patient rooms. Therefore having a joyful environment in this hospital is important and useful to help children feel like they’re at home. Children who go to visit the doctor are also entertained with the paintings and displays. This environment also gives great vibes to parents taking their children to appointments. With all the different people who visit this hospital, the hospital is designed to gain attention from children of all ages. The walls are painted by different pastel colors and enhanced with colorful paintings. The sweet smell of food from Au Bon Pain is combined with the smell of the hospital. Apart from smelling the hospital environment and food, we smell alcohol as people use their hand sanitizers. While many like to use hand sanitizers frequently, others rather feel the cold running water as they wash their hands which is what’s suggested to do often. The atmosphere of Children’s Hospital is very pleasing and calming, but since it is a hospital it is a noisy place to be in especially in the mornings and the afternoons. It is busy in the morning and in the afternoons because that is when most children are scheduled to have appointments. A lot of sounds are heard, from doctors speaking to one another, to parents shouting out their child’s name, to babies crying out loud. In the background of the main lobby there is soothing music playing, but people do not hear it because they are too busy walking or talking to someone. The only ones that actually pay attention to the music that is playing are the people sitting in the waiting area of the lobby. In the Cardiology Department waiting area, the walls are painted yellow, blue, and white. When you go into this department on the right hand side is the check in section and on the left hand side is the waiting area. The waiting area is divided into two sections. In the smaller section there are only a few chairs and the other section is intended to entertain the smaller children. There is a flat screen TV on the wall, there are three paintings and about two posters. The paintings is showing a group of cartoon children smiling painted with many colors such as, green, yellow, blue, orange, and pink. A map poster and a poster that read “Show some Heart” are also hung up on the wall. In the center of the waiting area there is a large glass display with a street track and cars inside it. Then the chairs are surrounding the large glass display. They also had a small table with four chairs around it, a small kitchen set, and a water fountain for the children. The parent waits for their child to be called by a nurse and they feel anxious of what the doctor is going to say. As the child goes into the room and meets the doctor they are tranquil and feel calm. The doctor then begins by placing the stethoscope on their chest and listens to their small racing hearts. The child cries when the doctors give them that lousy sedation medicine to make them sleepy. Then they scream when they feel the needle going into their skin and the stinging sensation of the needle. They feel the doctors putting on the electrocardiogram on their chest with the Holter monitor connected to it all. Then the doctor says “this Holter monitor will need to be on for twenty four hours”. In Chapter 4 of “Beyond Words”, Ray Oldenburg discusses the concept of “third place”. He says a third place “has to be free or inexpensive, offer food and drink, be accessible, draw enough people to feel social, and foster easy conversation”. Children’s Hospital definitely meets the terms of a third place. When people enter the main entrance of the hospital, they cannot keep the visuals they come in contact with, to themselves. Sometimes people use what they see to start a conversation with someone they do not know. It is where some parents with very sick children spend a lot of their time. It is not only a place to work at, but a place where kids can hang out when seen by the doctor. Sometimes even after children are done with appointments parents stay around the hospital and go into the gift shop, CVS, and or the Au Bon Pain (which are all located in the lobby). Some parents also hang out in the lobby as they wait for their cars to be brought out the valet parking by the parking attendants.  The messages this hospital sends is that the buildings are being built to make children feel comfortable and enjoyable. Not only will kids enjoy the creativity of the hospital, but also enjoy going to their doctor visits. Technology has change a lot in the way people live and work making it helpful to cure and detect diseases within children. If we go back to many years ago hospitals did not have the technology that is available now. Hospitals were not made to be fancy they were just a place to cure the sick with only one or two floors. In fact in 1869 Children’s Hospital only had twenty beds and now they have 396 beds, which says a lot about the progress this hospital has made. Now when people go into the hospital they sometimes forget that they are in one because it looks so entertaining. People even get lost because it is so big and there are so many different departments and floors.
 * Children’s Hospital: Best Choice for Children ** 