The Miriam Hospital: 1984 – David Brussat

by David Brussat, contributing writer, Architecture Here and There

Photo: The Miriam Hospital, David Brussat

I was planning such a takedown of Miriam Hospital, known as The Miriam Hospital, or, now, Brown University Health. My hospital system was until recently called Lifespan. Lifespan is now out. It is now Brown University Health.

Well, this was going to be such a stitch, riffing on johnnies and all other things medical that have not been updated in two or three centuries.

But then I had second thoughts. The doctors and nurses at Miriam and, equally, those at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, in North Smithfield (where I was sent next), are so great. Do they deserve this?

No, I decided, they do not.

So I downgraded this post to a notification to readers of this blog of its writer’s officially certified good health after three weeks in two hospitals, including the Miriam (where I was admitted after suffering a small stroke) and the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, in North Smithfield, where I was sent after that. Both seemed like maximum security prisons, with beds alarmed to go off – sirens blaring, klieg lights flashing –  should a patient seek to visit the en-suite bathroom or any other place. Rooms at the Rehabilitation Hospital, or the Fogarty Memorial Hospital, as it was once known, were likewise alarmed, but toned down a notch or two. (“For your own good,” of course, in case you trip and fall on the way.)

In addition to letting readers know I am  now at home and doing fine, I’d like to let my roommate at Miriam, Room 351 East, know he should email me at [email protected] if he wants to read my manifesto.

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To read other articles by David Brussat: https://rinewstoday.com/david-brussat-contributing-writer/

My freelance writing and editing on architecture and others addresses issues of design and culture locally and globally. I am a member of the board of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, which bestowed an Arthur Ross Award on me in 2002. I work from Providence, R.I., where I live with my wife Victoria, my son Billy and our cat, Gato. If you would like to employ my writing and editing to improve your work, please email me at my consultancy, [email protected], or call (401) 351-0451.