Japanese Hospital Hospitality

Japanese Hospital Hospitality
By Edward, Smith’s School of English Otsu

At the beginning of December I got sick. It was serious enough to warrant being hospitalized. At first, because the doctors didn’t know what had caused my illness, I was put in a private room (quarantine). After a few days the doctors had figured out what it was, determined it was not contagious, and I was moved to a group room.

While in quarantine, I couldn’t leave my room and I couldn’t have visitors. My room had a private toilet and bath, sitting area, small kitchen and of course a bed and TV. Nurses, doctors and other staff came and checked on me regularly, bringing me medicine, checking my condition, bringing my food and drinks and even offering to get me anything I wanted from the day room or vending machines.

Once in a group room, I was able to move around and get things for myself and yet still received regular visits and offers of help. In spite of being sick, the service was so complete and the staff so hospitable that I almost felt like I was on vacation. The floor I was on even had a public bath (sento). We reserved it privately and so got the whole bath to ourselves every time. My room-mates were very kind- sometimes we chatted a bit but generally everyone was quiet and polite. One man even brought gifts for the other 3 people in the room.

Did I mention that the doctor who admitted me spoke English perfectly? She had just finished a 3 year residency in the U.S.A. The other doctors all tried very hard to talk to me in English, and they wrote all of my files in English so that I would know exactly what tests they had done, the results and what my status was. In the end I made a full recovery and was released from the hospital feeling well cared for, healthy and ready to get back to life.