Tete-a-tete: Bring back Southern NH Medical Center’s gift shop, a place of comfort for the sick

These past few years, we’ve been spending more time at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua due to a family member’s health issues, and it has become a tradition to do some of our Christmas shopping at the hospital’s gift shop.

It’s truly an incredible place, beautifully and thoughtfully stocked with a wide variety of toys, clothing, jewelry, gift items, fresh flowers, and home décor. There is literally something for everyone, and the prices are extremely reasonable.

Nearly every member of our family has been blessed by their bountiful inventory, myself included. In fact, I’m wearing one of my favorite cozy wraps from the gift shop as I write this column.

Upon arriving at the hospital for a November appointment, we were looking forward to indulging in our Christmas tradition. Our shopping lists were ready to go, and we were excited to see what new treasures lay in store (pun somewhat intended) for the holiday season.

But the gift shop had vanished.

The space it had occupied inside the hospital’s main entrance just a few weeks before was completely empty, save for a few bare shelving units.

Hoping it was simply closed for remodeling or carpet cleaning, I inquired as to what had happened to the gift shop. Apparently, that space is going to be turned into a retail pharmacy, and the gift shop has been drastically downsized and relegated to a pair of small kiosks in the hallway near the emergency room.

The experience is nowhere near the same. There is a tiny fraction of the merchandise, and the hallway is on the chilly side due to the emergency room entrance doors constantly opening and closing – not an ideal environment to linger in with a family member who isn’t feeling well. For the first time in years, we left without buying anything.

We are absolutely heartbroken at the loss of the gift shop. This may sound like an extreme reaction, but I think it’s difficult to understand just how crucial a good gift shop is to a hospital if you haven’t spent a lot of time in medical facilities as a patient or as a family member/caregiver of a patient.

No matter how skilled and compassionate a medical team may be, hospitals are inherently stressful environments. If a patient is staying in the hospital, they are often physically and emotionally depleted from enduring various tests and procedures and battling symptoms and side effects.

Their family members or caregivers are likewise exhausted from keeping on top of everything that’s happening with the patient and advocating for what they need. They may spend hours by their bedside each day.

While not all hospital gift shops are as outstanding as the one that SNHMC once had, they serve as a place of respite for patients’ families and caregivers. While the patient is having yet another test or procedure, their family member or caregiver can take a moment to decompress in one of the few non-medical spaces in the hospital and chat with the lovely volunteers who staff it.

Browsing the shelves and looking at beautiful and interesting things helps take their mind off difficult diagnoses and the stresses of treatment – a bit of a reset for their mental health. Shopping is referred to as “retail therapy” for a reason.

They can pick up something to help lift the patient’s spirits – flowers, a balloon, a stuffed animal – and they can find something to cheer themselves up or to bring back for children or siblings at home. Everyone in the family is affected by these health issues, and everyone can benefit from the gift shop.

People also visit the hospital for outpatient procedures, follow-up appointments, bloodwork, and various types of scans. These undertakings can produce their own kind of stress and exhaustion, and once again the gift shop becomes a place of respite.

Outpatients can buy something to celebrate a positive outcome. They can buy something to encourage themselves after receiving a disappointing result. Or they can buy something to reaffirm their humanity after spending the day being poked and prodded.

And of course, babies are born in hospitals. What better way to celebrate their arrival – and pamper the new mother – than by picking up a few items in the gift shop before going in to visit?

In addition to being a place of respite, proceeds from the gift shop help to fund patient experience initiatives, according to SNHMC’s website. This includes the Comfort Cart. The Comfort Cart is stocked with small gifts and self-care items, and volunteers bring it around to the rooms of those who have been admitted to the hospital.

Now that the gift shop has been so drastically diminished, there will be less money coming in to support patient experience initiatives and the Comfort Cart. Will the difference be made up by money from other sources, or will there simply be less money for the things that make patients feel less like a diagnosis and more like people?

In Matthew 25:36 (NIV), Jesus says, “I was sick and you looked after me.” He then goes on to explain that by doing that for others, we are in essence doing that for Him (v. 40). Looking after the sick encompasses more than providing excellent medical care.

It is my wish this Christmas that SNHMC would bring back the gift shop. It has done so much for patient and family morale and mental health over the years, and I would love to see it continue to be a special blessing to the whole community.

– Teresa Santoski

Originally published December 14, 2025

www.teresasantoski.com