Duke in Pics: A Caring Prescription at a Duke Health Gift Shop

The retail therapy at the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop is real.

The customers browsing through the droning drink machines and bright displays of T-shirts often need more than a gift— they need an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on, or even a hug. They might be dealing with a family member or friend battling for their life just down the hall.

“You have to learn to read them,” said Francine Clark, gift shop cashier. “And then you let them start to talk.”

Besides kindness, the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop—one of four throughout the health system—doles out candy, books, balloons and more to patients, their families and staff alike, often serving just as much as an information booth as a retail store for the bustling Duke University Health System—and, of course, a place to get away from the seriousness of sickness.

Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop Supervisor Becky Riddle tidies a collection of colorful, Duke-themed T-shirts on a recent weekday morning. The T-shirts are among the shop’s biggest sellers, and not just for patients. ICU Nursery Nurse Kate Spillane wore a purple Duke shirt she purchased in the shop as she picked up a soda during a shift break. “There’s good snacks here when you don’t have a lot of time,” Spillane said. Gift Shop cashier Francine Clark said a hurried pace often identifies Duke staffers as much as their employee IDs.

Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop Supervisor Becky Riddle checks out Derrick Leake, a Duke Health sterile processing tech. Before he started a recent diet, Leake often picked up sweet candies like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups from the shop. These days he opts for peanuts and other healthier fare. The shop also carries purses and shawls from retailer CoCo + Carmen (typically selling for around $70), with more affordable versions (around $20) from the Mainstreet Collection. The gift shops also sell parking passes for patient families and visitors.

Duke cardiology outpatient Dennis Milko gives Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop cashier Francine Clark a hug, stopping in the gift shop after a checkup with his cardiologist. Milko received a quadruple bypass in August. His family frequented the gift shop during his surgery. “The shop’s a nice break from the seriousness of surgery. They bought me balloons from here and, even though they shouldn’t have, they brought me candy,” Milko said. Patients’ families often become friendly with gift shop staffers. “There’s families here for months,” Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop Supervisor Becky Riddle said.

Choice Books vendor Greg Duncan stocks books on a display case in the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop. Duncan said religious books sold well in the shop, as well as other positive, self-help type books. The shop also carries jewelry, seasonal items, phone chargers, and toiletries. “We try to sell a little bit of everything,” said Becky Riddle, Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop supervisor. “There’s nothing like being at the hospital and finding out that you left your deodorant at home.”

Gifts like these stuffed animals often find homes by the bedsides of Duke patients. Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop cashier Francine Clark shared the story of a gift shop regular, a veteran who gets checkups at the nearby VA Medical Center, then comes to the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop and purchases a stuffed animal. He instructs gift shop staff to give the stuffed animal to the first sick child they see.

A sign, as well as fall decorations, welcome visitors to the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop. The shop is one of four gift shops throughout the Duke Health System. The other three are located at Duke North, Duke South and the Children’s Hospital.

Cashier Francine Clark sits behind a register in the Duke Medicine Pavilion Gift Shop. Clark has worked in the gift shop for four years and credits her superb customer service to a stint manning the phones at Time Warner Cable.