Hospital lets doctor keep office toys

Administrators wanted the Beanie Babies, Buzz Lightyears, Tommy the Rugrat doll and others to go. But now they can stay.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- For four years now, Dr. Louise Templeman's medical practice hasn't been what would be called normal.

She comes into the office off Seven Springs Boulevard in the Medical Arts Building in the morning and sees her office manager, Laurette Wholey, sporting an overgrown hat of some sort, parading around like a Mad Hatter in nurse's scrubs. On the walls behind Templeman's reception counter are shelves full of bug-eyed stuffed animals, Beanie Babies and usually the latest toy that kids are begging their parents for.

Walking back to her office used to trigger the mounted toy bass on the wall that sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy" before nurses turned off the electronic eye.

Templeman's idea is simple: Doctors' offices are scary places, and they don't need to be. She said she remembers being scared as a kid, and knows the office is a stressful place for both patient and doctor. Her solution is humor.

"I've just thought I was always going to have fun," Templeman said, recalling her decision made in medical school to have a less-than-serious office.

So it was with a bit of surprise that the family practitioner started getting calls late last year from her landlord, Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, telling her of complaints about the way she ran her practice. Before November, no one had said a word to Templeman about her unorthodox style.

Because Templeman shared an office with another doctor, and a building with a handful of others, administrators at the hospital ordered Templeman to take down the Beanie Babies, the Buzz Lightyears, the Tommy the Rugrat doll. Out with the singing fish. Out with the talking toys.

"I've never thought of myself as a rebel because I never thought I would step on anyone's toes," the soft-spoken Templeman, 47, said.

But after the May 19 letter from hospital administrators, she had to make a choice: stick to her guns, keep the toys and try to stay with the hospital she supports, loves and sends her patients to -- or move.

Not wanting to move, nor wanting to take down her toys, Templeman chose to stand her ground. Word traveled fast among the 4,000 patients she sees.

Patients -- many who said they would follow her wherever she went -- started calling the hospital and writing letters. State Rep. Mike Fasano, who has a staffer that goes to Templeman, got involved, sending Helen Ellis a letter supporting Templeman. The letter is blown up and hanging on the wall outside the reception area.

"It is my opinion that a medical professional who creates an atmosphere where patients can laugh, feel welcomed and part of a family should be commended not condemned," the New Port Richey Republican wrote.

Among the most loyal to Templeman is Shirley Straight, a 72-year-old firebrand always on the lookout for a good laugh.

"I think people should have humor in their life," she said. "They need it -- that and God."

Straight, whose Internet name is "doorwrecker' because of how she handles her wheelchair, was just about ready to ride down to Helen Ellis in Tarpon Springs to give officials a piece of her mind.

"I feel more like family than I do a patient in this office," Straight said. "I knew I was in the right place because I'm a screwball anyway."

Most of the patients who wrote or called have said the office wouldn't be the same if the staff had to take down the toys.

"I feel like it's a family," Cathy Mackin said. "An office is an extension of what you are, who you are. I think that tells you more about the doctor than the degree can tell you on the wall."

But Tuesday morning, Templeman got what she hoped for: an agreement. She can keep the toys, so long as they stay out of the way of other doctors offices. Helen Ellis spokesmen did not return telephone calls from the Times.

"We're excited," Wholey said. "We're able to practice medicine the way she (Templeman) wants to."

-- Staff writer Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.

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