Mary Dee Hacker is vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. She was the executive sponsor through the planning and design of a 317-bed tower for the hospital, set to open in summer 2011. Before taking the stage to chat about healthy design, Hacker sat down for our In The Green Room Q&A.
Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?
A. Either grocery shopping or at Descanso Gardens hiking.
Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. None.
Q. What do you consider to be the greatest simple pleasure?
A. A quiet moment with my family.
Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. Climbing into bed with my parents on Saturday morning. They had a double bed and four children, and Saturday mornings we’d all get in, and my mom would climb out and go fix breakfast. That was the routine in the Hacker household.
Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?
A. Jump out of an airplane.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional character?
A. Nancy Drew. She was a wonderful character for a little girl to read about.
Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. A Cosmo.
Q. When do you feel most creative?
A. Saturday or Sunday mornings, when I’m not heading off to the hospital.
Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?
A. I’d be an architect or I’d still be a nurse.
Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?
A. London with my husband.
Q. What is your most prized material possession?
A. My home.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?
A. Florence Nightingale.
To read more about Hacker’s panel on healthy design, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.