Inside Martha’s Vineyard Hospital

“Go to Mass General,” said a friend from Nantucket. “These island hospitals are … “ (I can’t bring myself to repeat what she said next).

An Edgartown pal urged me to go to the emergency room at Falmouth Hospital instead of here on Martha’s Vineyard, where the hospital is 10 minutes from my home. 

That was in late May, when I’d already been to the local ER twice with pain nobody seemed able to diagnose. After my third trip, a third doctor made me an appointment with surgeon Pieter Pil, who recommended “going in to take a look.” 

I agreed, a date was set for the operation — the first in my life, if you don’t count that tonsillectomy when I was 5 — and my friends again began weighing in:

“You’re having surgery at the Vineyard hospital?” a Vineyard Haven woman asked incredulously.

But then she added, “Who’s the doctor? …. Oh, he’s great.”

I thought: So the doctor is great, but the hospital is to be avoided? What’s up with that?

Have you spent time at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital? Would you go again? Tell us in the comments.

I’m an Islander: I went to MVH. And I loved it.

Post-surgery, I spent four days in a bizarre combination of pain and luxury: swallowing meds, absorbing drips, sleeping at all hours and watching the boats go back and forth. At night, a green light flashed on a buoy as the perigee moon lighted up the sky.

The nurses, aides, vital-signs ladies and even the dietician were attentive, kind, efficient and friendly — one told me, “It’s so nice to have young people here.” She meant me! I had to smile; laughing hurt.

Art in the ward

Part of my recovery required tottering out on my feet for walks around the ward, where many walls display paintings, photography and other works donated by local and well-known artists.

My favorites were the two-story sea life mural by Margot Datz and the recently-hung series of portraits, by Nina Bramhall, of Island elders photographed in the 1980s.

Among the photos are two long-gone faces I loved from my childhood and teen years in Edgartown: Vineyard Gazette editor Henry Beetle Hough, a longtime family friend, and actress Ruth Gordon, our across-the-street summer neighbor.

Each was born in 1896 and died in 1985; both, when I knew them, always had time to talk with young neighbors. It became a part of my daily hospital ritual to drag my IV pole down the hall and see them again.

Thank you, Larry David

Another attraction to lure me out of bed was the roof garden, a gift of the David Family — that would be Larry and Laurie. An expansive patio planted with purple loosestrife, clustering sedums and rippling grasses, overlooking the lagoon, it provides a serene outdoor space for rest and reflection (but not eating or drinking, as posted). 

The roof garden is a blessing, with one drawback: The rippling grasses have grown so high that patients in rooms on that side of the ward can’t see through to the lagoon, leading some to complain of the limited view, a staffer told me.

To me, a hospital with any view at all was a revelation, and MVH offers not only outdoor scenery but the art-lined walls inside as well.

Of course, without good care, the rest of it would be a mockery. But I got excellent treatment, was discharged after five days and am continuing to mend. (My mystery ailment? That’s still a mystery, but lab tests indicate it wasn’t caused by a disease.)

What’s your opinion of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital? Tell us in the comments.