The new Nationwide Children's Hospital

Lobby leading to Hospital Pharmacy and the Emergency Department

 A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend a blogger open house at the new Nationwide Children's Hospital. I was tickled to be invited. I am a mom and a blogger and I do live in the area. I have to say the new hospital is one of the most beautiful places I hope to never visit again!

We met in the underground parking lot on Saturday, June 2, 2012. I think there were about 18 bloggers in all. It was exciting to meet some of my twitter pals.

The MBA in me was totally impressed. This beautiful building, campus and total process overhaul took only 6 years to accomplish. From strategic plan to reality in 6 years. Amazing. Simply amazing. As on friend, who was Twitter timeline bombed by our hashtag #everythingmatters, said this hospital and their process, very well could change the face of health care delivery. I am inclined to agree.

On the tour our guide emphasized over and over that the process included all stakeholders. Doctors, nurses, staff, parents, kids, families, patient educators, architects, and construction professionals. #Everythingmatters and that included opinions and ideas from the stakeholders. They looked at what worked and more importantly what wasn't working in the existing hospital and processes and changed them for the better.

Corridor. Lots of forest botanical motifs in the new design

After a brief stop in the main lobby, we began our tour in the ER. Let's face it, if we are likely to be at the hospital with our kiddos, the ER is a very likely stopping point. The new ER doubles the capacity of the existing ER and they have revised treatment plans and staff allocations to better serve the kiddos and parents. While I loved hearing about the process changes, I couldn't help being so surprised by just how beautiful the new hospital is. 

Custom Fish Tank in the ER waiting area

New ER trauma room. The pass through supply closet and efficient stock management is just on of the many processes being redesigned to ensure speed and accuracy.

The little ER bed is sobering. While it is good we have hospital ready to care for the littlest patients it is heartbreaking to see the little beds.

 From the ER we went up to the 9th Floor, to take in the spectacular city views and see a standard room and explore the in patient rehab gym and therapy spaces.

View from the 9th floor. The garden is built of special materials because they are built over the underground parking garage.

More of the gardens.

Across Campus view. The views are spectacular.

The standard hospital room is anything but standard. One of the changes in this process, was to redesign the hospital rooms and standardize them. Every room is the same and the layouts are the same. This will help the staff when they have to float. Again, the planning team went to the staff and asked them about everything from lifting and turning practices to bathroom design. They redesigned the family chairs and couch/beds. They rethought infection control and how to make everything more homey. The LCD headboard and state of the art TVs, make sure the kids feel in control as well. Feeling blue? Change your head board. Orange your favorite color, no problem you can have that too... The magnetic paint on one wall, that means you can decorate your room with cards or pictures from home.

Our guide telling us about the many features of the room. The LCD variable color head board is awesome.

All rooms have a standard dry erase board. I like that the pain scale is kid centered.

View of the room from the hallway.

The rehab gym and related areas make it possible for kiddos and their parents to practice a variety of life skills and make the transition from hospital to home easier. Honda even donated a car, which was airlifted in during construction, so kiddos and their parents can practice those ever important transfers in and out and stowing a wheel chair correctly and safely.

Honda Civic practice car. Airlifted in during the construction process.

All common areas have a dishwasher, for washing toys. On each floor there are playrooms.

 Not only are the rooms impressive, but the hallways and common areas too. Everything is a child level, the artwork, the creative decor, the wonderful niches, that tell a story.

"Butterflies eat with their feet"

All of this interactive art is at kid eye level

 All throughout the hospital are these amazingly charming animals. Made here in Ohio by The Carousel Works in Mansfield. I love that the hospital is featuring some Ohio craftsmanship front and center.

If I could have figured out a way to bring him home with me... so cute!

The lobby is spectacular with its nature themed landscape. Something out of a fairy tale really.

The gardens are impressive and since they are built over the underground parking lot, they are a marvel of gardening talent and unique weight reducing materials.

The indoor imagination forest is lovely as well. Instead of sticking with dead space or generic lobby, the new hospital has a magical forest, which is just perfect for children and adults alike.

There is no question that the new hospital is beautiful and designed with both adults and children and mind. The attention to detail is amazing, but what I think is most exciting is this truly the intersection of public and private. This is OUR hospital, put together through the collaboration of corporations, hospital staff, and the community.

While we all hope that we will never be the ones sitting in the ER or spending the night on specially designed trundle futon, it is comforting to know, that in Columbus, Ohio-- a town well known for a Big 10 school and related medical center, that we ALSO have a world class and state of the art Children's hospital. A hospital that not only can provide top tier emergency care and treatments for a variety of diseases, and research and scholarship but also a hospital that is committed to community outreach and partnership. 

June 10th is the Community Open House! Your chance to see and experience the new hospital in the way I did. There will be activities and tours all throughout the day.

Community Celebration Day

Sunday, June 10, 2012
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Main Campus

 

It truly is our Nationwide Children's Hospital.

 

Pinterest... not the problem or the answer

So, I have a new playground and it is called Pinterest. For those of you who don't know about Pinterest, you should maybe check it out or not, it is what I like to call visual crack. Luckily for me the iPhone app has some issues and I unistalled it, otherwise I might well be in trouble.

Pinterest is the Internet equivalent of my stacks and stacks of notebooks, full of clippings and pictures and notes. I have killed a fair number of glue sticks, creating these notebooks full of pictures I liked, looks I enjoyed, pictures I found breathtaking. I even have one for my still half written novel.

The great thing about Pinterest is you can easily share these notebooks, I mean pin boards with your friends and heck anyone who shares your interests. You can create a group board and you and all your friends, your wedding party, your BFF, or your writing group - just to name a few options here - can pin and pin and pin. Sharing effortlessly. I really wish Pinterest had been around while I was in MBA school. It would have made collaborating a bit easier. During my kitchen remodel, what a great way to keep track of my wishlist, ideas, things I liked, things I didn't like. I actually currently have a board, where I am collecting ideas for the living room project. (which may or may not ever happen.)

In all fairness, I think Pinterest is simply a better organized version of what many Tumblr blogs are at present. People are visual creatures. A picture is worth at least a 1000 words and in our fast paced culture, we see so much of our lives in images.

I have been online, in a writing capacity for about 6 years, maybe 7 if we count my very early and now deleted MySpace blog. I have had my work taken, reposted by someone, who made it out to be her own original work. It made me hopping mad. I made her take it down and I made it clear she had taken it. It was uncool.

To me this is a clear violation of the trust we all place in our fellow bloggers and writers. Write your own words or PAY someone to do it for you. I have ghost written blog posts and been paid for it. I am happy to write for pay and let someone else post it on a blog under their name, provided the check clears.

That said, I have been 17 kinds of flattered when someone has liked my work so much, that they have willingly reposted and credited me or quoted me and credited me, with a link back. This is the right way to share. The Internet was designed, I think, as a way we could share and share quickly. Since I have been beating the letter writing horse, let's think about how we shared things in the past. Through the mail. You had to tear a picture out of a magazine or an article, and this meant you lost your copy or you had to make a copy or buy a second copy, and mail it. Turn around time of this sharing event - like 5 days, give or take.

Now I can share instantly.

I spy with my little eye something shiny and I can post a link here on the Edge, on my FB, my twitter, my Tumblr (I don't really have a Tumblr, but I could...) and Pinterest in about 10 seconds. I can send a link via email.

Over the last month, I have read dozens of opinions on copyright and Pinterest and who owns what and how Pinterest is evil. I don't really think Pinterest is the problem, just as Tumblr isn't the problem and Facebook isn't the problem.

The problem is as a community, as a creative community we have been lazy about copyright issues and we have stuck with an old model, which frankly does not serve to protect us, the artists, exactly, but those who have paid for our content. When the content is free and we willingly post it to our own blogs or Flickr or website, sometimes that is one and the same, but sometimes not. I also think, that in the early days, we got sloppy. This new medium, this information superhighway offered us a direct link to readers and buyers and fans. We are now able to self publish our books, produce content and make it available in the blink of an eye. Publishers were our watch dogs, not because they liked us but because they were going to protect and hopefully recoup their investment, a few times over.

What we all failed to do, is to come up with a convention, which would make it easy to identify online - what was content which was protected and what is content, which is not. Some people watermark and some don't. Some artist watermark items for sale and have it act as an online business card, some remove the watermark after they have been paid. Without a solid convention, who is to know? For those of us who produce text, there is no way to know. Perhaps we should have picked a font as the deliminator or agreed that text with a double underline meant something had not been paid for.

Being in the drivers seat was exciting and heady stuff. Too bad, we did not think 10-15 years down the road. Broader reach means the old model is outdated. Our lack of foresight has also meant we are starring into a muddy pool of our own making.

Also as Internet users and consumers, we don't like to pay for things. We want to read quality material for free. We want to look at pretty pictures, for free. We want to look at pictures of our best friends new baby or puppy or dress or handbag, for free.

And just as magazines depend heavily on advertisers to stay in print, the Internet is powered through ad dollars as well. Someone pays to host the site, where the pretty pictures live.

I also am not unconvinced that Pinterest is a reflection of a larger issue facing social media and the Internet right now. I am not sure Pinterest ever thought that its platform would be a place where brands went to build their brand image. Maybe I am just naive. This uncomfortable balance of sharing and selling is just getting more and more complicated with each passing second.

I also think that Pinterest Users should be honest and share their sources. Link back to the creator of the photo or the publisher of photo they are reposting. It is proper blogger etiquette and it is how the net is supposed to work.

I think splitting hairs about the TOS and what constitutes ownership in this day an age of click and share and not going to bear any fruit. The playing field is different now. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and the like, have changed how we communicate with our families, our friends, our work groups and with each other, even when we don't actually know each other.

Like this article says - "Pinterest is in someways just like Xerox and a VCR."

As a creative person, believe me I am concerned about the use of my work for profit, without me being compensated or credited properly. I also want my work seen and read and talked about and frankly shared. I love when my DIY pics get re-pinned on Pinterest.

Our current copyright laws do not balance this well. The intersection of commerce and creativity have always had an uneasy marriage. As artists and as publishers - we have limited control over what happens with our products. Is selling a used book a copyright violation? What about those magazines found in the garbage and resold by the someone who found them.

The Internet has only made this intersection all the more complex and confusing.

I don't think Pinterest is the problem or the answer. Just like I think SOPA and PIPA weren't the answer either. I think it is time to figure out a crediting convention that we can all live with and I think it is time to come to terms with the fact that we no longer share information the same way we did even five minute ago. We cannot quibble with whose server has the content and the storage resolution, because in two years it is all going to be bigger capacity and more storage. We cannot quibble with whether posting a link on FB or Twitter or even Pinterest is claiming ownership, it is sharing and if the reposting or sharing mechanism are engineered correctly, platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter are a means to spread the word and share one's creative output.

If someone takes a picture or some writing or something and says it is their creative work product, when it isn't that is not only a possible copyright issue, it is plagiarism.  That is off the charts wrong. If someone shares something on a board titled "Rocking cool photos" - on Pinterest -- and properly credits his/her source(s),  that is a compliment. Be happy your picture is now highlighted by someone with 1000 followers.

Being adequately compensated for ones creative output is a wholly separate issue. I am not sure many famous artists or writers would say they feel adequately compensated. Pinterest et al, is not the problem with that paradox, nor is it exactly the answer, either.

Music Monday: Howlin Maggie

Easy to be Stupid

I'm a Slut

Alchol

I saw Howlin' Maggie back in the day. They put on one amazing show. They recently came back together for a benefit for Andy Davis. They are a local band and I think they made two fantastic records. Above are three of their best known songs. At least, three of my favorites.

 Today's post will likely get a few people worked up. So fair warning, if you do not want to read my frank discussion about sex, violence, capitalism, and the judgmental and I believe stupid and misguided regulation of vice, I humbly suggest you stop reading this now. Right now, move along - nothing for you to see here.

I am going to link to some works written by some folks I respect, who aim their material to those folks who are over 18. There will be a crafty post later and you should really think about coming back for that one. For this reason I am employing the cut. To protect those who choose not to stop reading. You click, you affirmatively have decided to read what I have to say. (For those of you reading on Facebook, you were warned. Stop now if you don't want to read about sex and capitalism.)

Outside voices

The FCKH8 little video floating around facebook and twitter, dealing with repealing Prop 8 and advancing the legalization of marriage for all Americans has caused a stir. I reposted it on my Facebook because I think it is savvy and clever and spot on.

Since 2008, I have been clear that I see marriage as a social contract and ergo it is a legal convention of the State and under the US Constitution,  all Americans must be afforded the same rights and protections under the law. (Here are two of my blog entries which deal with marriage: Contract of Marriage and Marriage is a Social Contract)

That said I am equally opposed to the casual use of the F-word and HATE is a banned 4 letter word in our house. In this case I think the words are being used with the gravity and brevity they both deserve. I think that the time has come to use an outside voice and speak up and speak loudly.

Let's call it as it is. Nothing short of prejudice is stopping marriage from being legally allowed for all couples who meet a baseline set of standards. It is illegal to disciminate for jobs based on a persons sexual orientation so it is not a magic leap to say it is illegal to disallow some couples from availing themselves of all the perks of marriage under the law.

Politically speaking, I think the government's job is to manage the business of running a nation and provide for smooth international relations and commerce. I think less government is better and I think the prudent management of the US check book is in order. At the moment I am disgusted with both parties and I think the lot of them should be sent packing and we should start over. A multiple party system is in order. Accountability and what not.

That said, I find it objectionable that both parties say they are defending the Constitution and clearly having marriage being the litmus test for 1000s of rights and privileges and then limited those who can participate in said Unions goes against the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Sexual Orientation should not be a valid reason to prohibit a couple from all the tax perks (and penalties), insurance benefits, the right to transfer property with tax advantages and the right to be at a loved one's bedside in the event of a tragedy.

I shan't belabor my stance on marriage, go forth and read the links I referenced above.

That said, I think it is time to use an OUTSIDE VOICE. Being nice gets one no where and make no mistake we are at a social crossroads. Our rights are being eroded at every corner and basically we have forgotten that we are a melting pot. There should be some base line social niceties and the rest of our private lives should be that, private. If people want to practice their faith, I am fine with that, I just don't want to hear about it, be roped into participating in it and be subjected to that faith's arbitrarily designed rules. The government is secular, was designed to be secular and should remain so.

Harvey Milk said "“More people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, my friends, that is true perversion.” The celebration of love, family and the American dream should know no color, race, gender or sexual orientation. Family units look and feel differently for everyone, but what cannot be disputed is families are the bedrock of society. We already live in a society where those units are a myriad and various as makes of automobiles, now is the time for the law to catch up with the social reality.

The other reason I thought this campaign was worth discussing is I am a MBA geek. I love thinking and writing about business and specifically marketing. I find marketing to be fascinating. I also am currently writing and thinking about social media. I attended a workshop on the use of social media in one's business model.

This campaign in the short 12 days it has existed as raised over $100,000 and has done so through the use of social media. Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. This is cutting edge. Whether you agree with the message or not, you have to admit that it is an example of what viral marketing is capable of generating. Social media, for now, is free. Set up a Facebook Fan page, a Twitter ID and You Tube channel and you are off to the races. Free.


Twitter is like a large chat room with a huge bulletin board. It never sleeps and the beauty of all social media, I think is the content is user controlled. I can say whatever I like (withing reason) and only the people who follow me or are #hastag watching will see my content. It is searchable. If you want to troll for information, it is there and totally searchable.


If for example you think I am a mouthy good for nothing blowhard, you have options. You can unfollow me, block me and go about your merry way. On the other hand, if you think I am intelligent, confident and thought provoking, you can encourage your friends to follow me, by re-posting (called retweeting) my posts or doing a follow Friday post and include me in your list.


Twitter, I think is an example of free speech at its best.


Less than 100 years ago, I was property. African American men had the right to vote before women did and in the 60s, a black man or woman could not legally marry a white man or woman. It took some loud talking to effect those changes.


When I was in college, being gay was rarely talked about.


Times change and we must change with those times. We grow in our enlightenment. Look ye across the pond. Europe, while rife with their own issues, are examples of societies which trace their roots back to Roman occupation and then further back yet. They aren't still governing the way they did 1000s of years ago. They have grown and evolved. Beheading your political opponent and enslaving his followers, is so passe.


We now must learn to grow and evolve.


Fancy that. A movement advancing the evolution of marriage and the definition of family is embracing the new marketing tool.


Ponder that.

Destination - SUK

In the interest of full disclosure, H works for a regional airline. He is a pilot. I am very aware that airlines are businesses, but seriously, something has to change. If the business model is not working and ALMOST every single customer - even your really, really loyal ones think you do a pretty crappy job delivering the service they pay for, it has to make you think that, um, I don't know you are doing it wrong. Don't believe me, go check out this travel watch dog website. I have yet to read a story that talks about Airlines getting it right.

Let's play word association - I say Airline(s) and this is what ten people said just now at the local farmers market:

1. Suck
2. Stupid fees
3. No fun
4. Rude service
5. No customer service
6. Lost baggage - always
7. Not getting what you pay for
8. PIA (pain in the ass)
9. Bloated CEO's
10. Out of touch

Wow. No one at the farmers market had anything nice to say. Not a one. Zippo. (ok, in all fairness #4 said Delta first and then followed up that remark with "rude service")

I conducted this informal poll, after reading this story, posted to Twitter by a friend. Seriously. Charging for carry on bags. Charging for drinks, charging for seat assignments. The bathroom? Ben Baldanza the CEO of Spirit Airlines must be high from inhaling too much Jet Fuel.

Feeing people to death has gotten the banks nowhere and it will get him nowhere too. It will I predict lead to his airline being grounded. While on its face, the idea of a la carte pricing makes sense. Ruth's Chris has made a mint doing it. The difference between Ruth's Chris and other steakhouses' ala carte menus and the airlines - at a great steak house - you really DO get what you pay top dollar for.

At a fine steakhouse, they will not lose the baked potato you ordered and will likely pay $7 for when it is all said and done, they will not tell you that your medium steak, which comes to you black is your problem. No they will serve you the meal of your dreams and then bill you handsomely at the end and you will gladly pay it - becasue the food is fantastic and the service is divine and their a la carte model - does allow you to build the meal of your dreams.

The airlines' a la carte model only serves to annoy the hell out of consumers. Pure and simple. I pay $50 for my checked bag, which the airline loses and then has the gall to tell me, it is my problem and when or if they find it, I can come pick it up. Seriously. What did I just pay for exactly?

Another example. My trip to Cancun on Continental. Per their own website children 5 and under may not travel alone. Naturally fees apply when children 5-11 travel alone. So on the Houston to Cancun leg, an international flight, they busted us up. Now believe me, I had to put in our ages when I booked, passport numbers, the whole deal. I selected seats together, cuz duh, we are traveling together. Still they had E sitting in the rear of the plane, me in the middle and L up ahead of me. Seriously? I called to fix this oversight and was told to address it at the airport after she reseated L and I together, but told me there was nothing they could do for E. At the local airport, I was rudely told, by a grunting gate agent to deal with it in Huston. It was not "his problem to fix." In Huston, I have never, not ever been treated so rudely and told it was my problem and the gate agents were busy dealing with important work. I should be happy I have seats, I pay to be flown to my destination, everything else is not their problem.

Um, hello - isn't customer service part of their work?

The airline had totally created an unaccompanied minors situation, a safety risk, and to make matters worse, a possible flight delay when my five year old freaks out, becasue he is 10 rows behind me.

The flight crew sadly was of no help. They were more interested in up selling me on direct TV than helping us get reseated together where we belong.

I paid well over $400 for those tickets. I was not flying cheap. L dealt with it. She up sold the guy next me to the emergency exit row, explaining that he would get more leg room and she would get to sit with her mother and brother. She had bravely taken the other seat, but was very tearful about it.

I also happen to know - that becasue the flight crew was too busy and the gate agents were too busy, I could have created a situation where the flight was delayed leaving. I told the lead flight attendant about my issue, upon boarding. He told me he would send someone back to help us. Which never happened. Had L and I not dealt with the issue, I am not sure who would have and I will, in the interest of full disclosure, state, I authorized her to throw a fit to end all fits, if it came to that.

While I can totally see the advantage to the fee model, from the perspective of the balance sheet. It makes sense, on paper. The problem is for consumers, it makes the fee bearing items/services a premium item and then you actually have to deliver. I pay $50 for my checked bag, you damn well better have it waiting for me when I get to my destination. I pay for my seat assignment, you better have provisions in place to ensure I get exactly the seat I request. You charge me for carry on, you better be prepare to let me have my pick of the overhead bin.

The bottom line - airlines are not just providing carriage, the sooner they realize that, the more likely they are to find consumers willing to pay more per ticket.

Some customer service would go a long way here boys and girls. Airlines, your customer service attitude from CEO down to baggage handler sucks and no fee can fix that.

Do you really want that list of ten words to be what defines you? I surely wouldn't.

Cooking Up a Storm

So first off, I want to introduce myself - Hi, I am Susan and I have been long absent. Whew, I feel better. Between school, which ended in February and H moving to NYC for work in March, I have just not been blogging much. I know I breeze by somewhat infrequently, posting something about what I have been reading or some such.

A writer writes, this is for certain and I am writing, but as I have expanded my writing skills, I find I am writing in a vast number of places these days. Where I once mainly wrote here and one other place, I am now covering a wider swatch of the World Wide Web.

I am also on Twitter. After a year, I can totally see why those who love Twitter, really love Twitter. If done correctly, it is an online community. Which brings me to the point of this post. I tried a new recipe this evening, making a number of adaptations for my dietary needs and I discovered it here, and I discovered @TheSpicedLife, via Twitter, through a friend who bakes fantastic cookies, through his online friendship with @TheSpicedLife's sister.

I digressed and fair warning I am going to do it again.

I like Indian Food. More importantly, Indian Food likes me. Much of it is vegetarian, nutrient rich and delightfully spiced. All good, when one is avoiding wheat, corn, dairy, eggs and large amounts of soy. Good for me, safe for me to eat, and tastes good too. Win. Win. Win.

With the help of some friends, a fantastic new pressure cooker, and a few great cook books and blogs, I am opening some amazing culinary doors.

Tonight I made a ME version of Kheema with Spring Greens. I made Kheema with Spinach. I substituted the dairy yogurt with Sheep's Milk Yogurt,I used half ground turkey thighs and half ground lamb for the beef and I used garlic paste and ginger paste instead of the minced garlic and ginger. I also used jaggery instead of brown sugar and a healthy handful of chives, as I did not have green garlic or scallions.

Having just eaten a small bowl - up yeah, that is some pretty fantastic food!