God's hotel : a doctor, a hospital, and a pilgrimage to the heart of medicine / Victoria Sweet.
"Choosing service in the last remaining almshouse in America, and tracing our understanding of medicine back to its medieval roots, a physician uncovers lost lessons in the care of body and soul"-- Provided by publisher.
"San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital is the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hotel-Dieu (God's Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves--"anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times" and needed extended medical care-ended up here. So did Victoria Sweet, who came for two months and stayed for twenty years.Laguna Honda, lower tech but human paced, gave Sweet the opportunity to practice a kind of attentive medicine that has almost vanished. Gradually, the place transformed the way she understood her work. Alongside the modern view of the body as a machine to be fixed, her extraordinary patients evoked an older idea, of the body as a garden to be tended. God's Hotel tells their story and the story of the hospital itself, which, as efficiency experts, politicians, and architects descended, determined to turn it into a modern "health care facility," revealed its own surprising truths about the essence, cost, and value of caring for body and soul"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 1594488436
- ISBN: 9781594488436
- Physical Description: 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New York : Riverhead Books, 2012.
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- First years -- The love of her life -- The visit of Dee and Tee, health-care efficiency experts -- The miraculous healing of Terry Becker -- Slow medicine -- Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman -- Dancing to the tune of Glen Miller -- Wedding at Cana -- How I fell in love -- It's a wonderful country -- Recalled to life -- The spirit of God's hotel.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Sweet, Victoria.
Laguna Honda Hospital > History.
Hospital care > California > San Francisco > Anecdotes.
Physicians > United States > Biography. - Genre:
- Anecdotes.
Autobiographies.
Available copies
- 12 of 13 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Iredell County Public Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 13 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statesville Main Library | B SWEET SWE (Text) | 33114017203530 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Cleveland County Main Library | 610.92 SWE (Text) | 22281500057428 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Columbus Library | B SWEET (Text) | 31250200018352 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Fletcher Branch | 610.92 S (Text) | 33258007284834 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Forsyth Central | B Sweet, Victoria (Text) | 0112519023090 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
| Goldsboro Library | B SWEET (Text) | 900000000168725 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Harnett County Main Library | 610.92 Swe (Text) | 33630004176561 | Adult Nonfiction | Checked out | 08/07/2026 |
| Haywood County Main Library | 610.92 Sweet (Text) | 33115007235861 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Henderson Main Branch | 610.92 S (Text) | 33258007064087 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Lee County Main Library | B/SWEET (Text) | 33262003153415 | Adult Biography | Available | - |
Accessibility Features
Summary:
"Choosing service in the last remaining almshouse in America, and tracing our understanding of medicine back to its medieval roots, a physician uncovers lost lessons in the care of body and soul"--
"San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital is the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hotel-Dieu (God's Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves--"anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times" and needed extended medical care-ended up here. So did Victoria Sweet, who came for two months and stayed for twenty years.Laguna Honda, lower tech but human paced, gave Sweet the opportunity to practice a kind of attentive medicine that has almost vanished. Gradually, the place transformed the way she understood her work. Alongside the modern view of the body as a machine to be fixed, her extraordinary patients evoked an older idea, of the body as a garden to be tended. God's Hotel tells their story and the story of the hospital itself, which, as efficiency experts, politicians, and architects descended, determined to turn it into a modern "health care facility," revealed its own surprising truths about the essence, cost, and value of caring for body and soul"--
"San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital is the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hotel-Dieu (God's Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves--"anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times" and needed extended medical care-ended up here. So did Victoria Sweet, who came for two months and stayed for twenty years.Laguna Honda, lower tech but human paced, gave Sweet the opportunity to practice a kind of attentive medicine that has almost vanished. Gradually, the place transformed the way she understood her work. Alongside the modern view of the body as a machine to be fixed, her extraordinary patients evoked an older idea, of the body as a garden to be tended. God's Hotel tells their story and the story of the hospital itself, which, as efficiency experts, politicians, and architects descended, determined to turn it into a modern "health care facility," revealed its own surprising truths about the essence, cost, and value of caring for body and soul"--
