The Washington, D.C., area has one of the most competitive healthcare markets in the country, and as hospitals undergo expansions, they are adding numerous service amenities to keep affluent, well-educated consumers using local hospitals, reports The Washington Post. The article highlights hospitals that have hired consultants from the Ritz-Carlton and the Walt Disney Company to help develop patient-friendly hospital environments. Some hospitals are making flat-screen televisions and CD players standard issue in patient rooms, others are upgrading towels and sheets and adding robes for an extra $200/day, creating ultra-quiet floors conducive to healing, or serving high-quality meals. “We want [patients] to leave here and then brag about it,” John Fitzgerald, president of Inova Fair Oaks in Fairfax County, told the Post. “There’s a competitive nature to health care, and we want to be first. And part of that is the service.” Other hospital administrators, however, say that funds are better spent elsewhere. Brian A. Gragnolati, president of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., said, “I would rather put money into nursing care and staffing and making sure our doctors are there. At the end of the day, it’s about taking care of patients.”
