Summer Reading Program
God’s Hotel is the
story of San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, one of the last almshouses in
the country, where technological advances and healthcare efficiencies are few,
but time is plentiful. In this chronic
care facility for the city’s indigent, doctors have the luxury of getting to
know their patients, listening to their stories, observing their conditions and
mulling the best course of treatment for each individual. In addition to
telling the stories of these patients and chronicling the evolution of Laguna
Honda into a modern skilled nursing facility, Sweet shares her own
transformation from a busy young physician to a seasoned practitioner of “slow
medicine.” During her years at Laguna Honda, Sweet also completed a PhD in
history, exploring the medical writings of Hildegard von Bingen, an 11th
Century Benedictine nun and healer whose teachings came to inform Sweet’s
philosophy and practice.
Recommend a book for 2016: The First-Year Book Selection Committee welcomes suggestions from all members of the Berry community. Please review our
selection criteria.