Mayo Clinic

Where there is darkness, light

The private, not-for-profit Mayo Foundation oversees the Mayo Clinic, Rochester Methodist Hospital, and Saint Marys Hospital. The foundation has served over five million people. The guiding principle behind the foundation is that the needs of the patient come first. Any earnings above those required to run the facilities are used for education and research. I watched in awe the scheduling and handling of appointments. No one was forgotten, and most patients were seen within 20 to 30 minutes. A shuttle bus runs between each facility every 15 minutes. Parking is at a premium, but there is no need to use a car once one arrives at one of the facilities.
Saint Marys Hospital has a cafeteria whose prices are comparable to a meal at McDonalds, and much healthier. I would buy my meals, place them in Styrofoam containers and eat them in Tom's hospital room. I celebrated the day I no longer had to use a Styrofoam box and plastic utensils.
If you have seen the movie Fargo you will remember the accents. Rochester residents have similar accents. While walking the corridors of Saint Marys and listening to the voices of nurses in the background, I would sometimes wonder if this were a dream and I was on a movie set.