Kim-Leng Hills

This hospital blows my mind; Joe DiMaggio’s Children’s Hospital in Florida which opened last year. Inspired by children patients, their families and medical practitioners. The pirate ship MRI Scanner was designed by Doug Dietz, the lead designer for GE Global Design and originator of the ‘GE Adventure Series’, to try and help ease the child’s anxiety from MRI, X-Ray and CT scanners and reduce the need for child sedation.

His team worked with the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg, a child museum, a daycare centre and childhood development experts during 2006-7. He gave out colouring books to boys and girls to colour in their own scanners to understand what children and parents liked throughout the designing process, and spent endless time sitting on the floor of hospital rooms to understand a child’s viewing perspective. He also created a “Hero’s Award” which enables the child to celebrate and share what they went through with their family and friends at school. His designs of these scanners differ along the Adventure series in different hospitals around the US, some have a pirate ship, jungle, camp ground or underwater themes. All even comprise of aromatherapy scents dispersed through a disguised vaporiser in the corner of the rooms.

Doug Dietz is a cancer sufferer himself, and having experienced his parents surviving cancer, he has a huge passion for designing MRI and CT scanners that can help people through their diagnosis and treatment.

I’m incredibly passionate about helping students in schools to begin building their self-confidence with creativity. Here’s an amazing TED talk by David Kelley to explain why schools need to help build this self-confidence.