Texas-based Character Farms creates similar designs for medical facilities, and many imaging centers use them throughout, even in the waiting and recovery areas.

In 2015, Preferred Imaging in Addison, Texas, had Character Farms use a beach theme to design brightly colored murals for its pediatric imaging center. They also built a sandcastle structure around the MRI scanner and an iPad station that resembles a giant palm tree. After the exam, children get tokens that they can use in a “treasure island” prize booth flanked by surfboards.

“It takes a little bit of the apprehension away from walking in and seeing that sterile environment,” says Amy Adams, the president of Preferred Imaging. “We’ve had cases where kids who were supposed to be sedated end up not needing it. We get patient surveys all the time that mention the aesthetics.”


That focus on patient care is where health care is moving, says Mark Sullivan, a former advertising creative who started Character Farms 10 years ago.

“We really feel that the next big thing in all of health care is finding ways to improve the overall patient experience,” Sullivan says. “All the big speakers at our last convention focused not on the technology side, which you would expect, but on the overall patient care aspect of imaging. We had many health care presidents, as well as manufacturing engineers, come to us and say we are in the bull’s-eye of where everything is moving, especially in the area of pediatrics.”

Back to HCB News

More Magazine Features

Pediatrics Homepage