Our Favorite Patient Perks at Local Hospitals

OB Speed dating
Swedish Medical Center offers sessions to help prospective parents meet and select an obstetrician.

Concerts in the Lobby
Almost as good as concerts in the park. Volunteers at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center and Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue ease hospital jitters with piano concerts. Overlake has violin players and a harpist, too.

Talking Beds
Franciscan Health Services purchased ICU beds for St. Anthony’s in Gig Harbor and St. Elizabeth’s in Enumclaw that can be programmed to “speak” in 22 languages and automatically translate what patients, nurses and doctors are saying.

Just Say No to Noise
Kudos to Franciscan Health Services for reducing noisy overhead paging by providing individual devices that staff wear around their necks.

Mirth Therapy
Certified laugh therapists use humor to alleviate fears and offer distractions at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue.

Shopping List
Dash to the store for milk, hairspray and a checkup. Got a cold? Allergies? A MultiCare Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner will see you seven days a week at two Rite Aid locations: Lakewood, 5700 100th St. SW; and Tacoma; 7041 Pacific Ave.

Boutique medicine
Who needs a trip to the mall when everything is available at the Shops at Swedish in the medical center’s new $365 million Issaquah campus? With four boutiques, a multi-use space for yoga, a child-care center, a gourmet café, Starbucks and a five-story atrium lobby with a fireplace, you’ll visit often. Oh, and did we mention the outstanding medical facilities?

Medi-Spa at Virginia Mason
No, this is not included free with your hospital stay, but it is a convenient place to go for skin care, waxing and tinting treatments when visiting your doctor.

Healing Arts
Many hospitals, including Swedish, Harborview, Evergreen and Seattle Children’s, have extensive art collections.

Sublime Design
The $460 million Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett features an emergency room the size of a football field, with splashes of lavender. The 12-story medical tower has hotel-like private rooms, many with mountain or Puget Sound views, light finished-wood flooring and frosted sliding-glass doors to allow for diffused natural light.