DOYLESTOWN, PA. – Doylestown Health recorded many firsts during its nearly 100-year history on the way to national recognition for excellence in health care. This week, there’s a new first – Doylestown Health is the first healthcare system in the United States to offer Short Story Dispensers.
Two Short Story Dispensers will be installed, one at Doylestown Hospital and the second at Pine Run Retirement Community. Each gives a patient, visitor, or Villager choices to print and read short stories varying in length from one, three or five minutes.
“We know from our childhood and throughout our adult years that a good story has the power to change us,” said Laura Wortman, Vice President and Chief Development Officer. Healing has a similar effect in transforming lives, and healing is at the heart of Doylestown Health’s One Vision Campaign. “Throughout all of the campaign’s priority projects, we are committed to ensuring a positive environment for our patients, families, Villagers, and visitors. Offering short stories as a brief respite is simply another way we put the needs of our community first.”
The on-demand short stories are available free-of-charge from two Short Édition Dispensers at the press of a button. Short Édition is a French international publishing house of short literature: poetry, short stories, and flash fiction. Short stories can be accessed via their online platform or their unique Short Story Dispensers which can be found in a variety of locations worldwide, and now in a U.S. health system. Doylestown Health is the first U.S. health system to fund and make available the dispensers at its locations.
According to Short Édition, the short story dispensers’ “innovative design provides people with literary experiences in unexpected places, delivering fiction to the public and breathing new life into the joy of reading and the art of storytelling.”
Doylestown Health selected a variety of story genres that will be available in its story dispensers, including inspirational, dramatic, and classic themes. The reader chooses the length of the story but the selection is random – and often surprising.
“Reading the printed stories makes the act of waiting a much more pleasant experience, and since they can easily be handed onto someone else, they often prompt friendly exchanges about literature,” said Christophe Sibieude, Co-Founder and CEO of Short Édition, who was onsite at Doylestown Health for the official announcement. With more than 8,000 authors, there is a nearly endless supply of original content.
ABOUT DOYLESTOWN HEALTH
Doylestown Health is a comprehensive healthcare system of inpatient, outpatient and wellness education services connected to meet the health needs of all members of the local and regional community. Doylestown Hospital, the flagship to Doylestown Health, has 232 beds and a Medical Staff of more than 435 physicians in over 50 specialties. An independent nonprofit health system, Doylestown Health is dedicated to providing innovative, patient-centered care for all ages.
ABOUT ONE VISION: THE CAMPAIGN FOR DOYLESTOWN HEALTH
Doylestown Health is embarking on a bold new chapter as it approaches its second century of healthcare delivery. To honor its centennial, Doylestown Health has launched an unprecedented $75 million comprehensive campaign, ONE VISION: The Campaign for Doylestown Health to meet the expanded health and wellness needs of our community.
Philanthropic support of ONE VISION: The Campaign for Doylestown Health will fund transformational renovation and expansion across the Doylestown Hospital and Pine Run campuses and will help chart the course for the next generation of patients, providers, and technology. For more information, call 215-345-2009.
ABOUT SHORT ÉDITION
The Short Édition vision is to make literature accessible to all, by putting short stories – whether fiction, poetry, comics strips or children’s stories – into the hands of readers. Founded in 2011, the company launched the Short Story Dispenser concept in 2015 and has now started to reach readers on each corner of the globe – from Paris to Hong Kong to San Francisco.
Original and simple, the Short Édition connected Short Story Dispensers print out short stories for free at the touch of a button, in both unexpected and everyday places. Users simply press a button to choose and 1-, 3- or 5-minute story, and the dispenser prints an original short story on an eco-friendly paper scroll. Completely free of charge for the user, the Short Story Dispensers are often positioned in waiting areas and on commuter routes. Reading the printed stories makes the act of waiting, or traveling, a much more enjoyable experience. Short Edition has dispensed more than 2.7 million short stories written by 8,000 independent authors. For more information, visit www.short-edition.com/en, or contact@short-edition.com
