
The idea of an almshouse may seem Dickensian, but one - Laguna Honda - operated in San Francisco until recently. It turns out there's a lot modern doctors can learn from seemingly antiquated approaches to treating patients. We talk with a physician who practiced there about the benefits of 'slow medicine'.
Reprinted by arrangement with Riverhead, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from "God's Hotel: A Doctor; A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage into the Heart of Medicine" by Victoria Sweet. Copyright © 2012 by Victoria Sweet.

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