Looking out the window

The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has a pretty amazing location, patients with a window seat have views from most levels. To the East are views over Fitzroy gardens and beyond to the Dandenong ranges, Southerly views capture the sports precinct, the Domain and Botanic gardens, Government house and the Yarra river. My window looks to the north, along with some great autumn sunshine from time to time my view features a fine view of the huge, elaborate, crazy, gargoyle laden stone heap that is ST Patricks Cathedral:

You can actually see the Peter Mac building in that photo, it is the ugly grey building about half way up the right hand side of the photo.
I am on the second floor at the moment, right at canopy level of some trees that are only now starting to showing off their autumn colours. They are not dropping their leaves yet, except for those that are shaken loose by a rowdy and very busy flock of birds that visit every evening. The birds make almost as much noise as one of my nurses, who is a one person flock of cockatoos.
Whilst I can't fault the staff of Peter Mac, the truth is that the building itself is beyond it's use by date. It is overcrowded, under pressure and slightly run down. It probably does not function as well as a modern hospital does as it was built when nursing practises were very different and it's ancillary facilities for patient use are pretty poor (things like day rooms are constantly being replaced as the operational needs of the hospital increase).
Which is why they are currently spending a lazy billion dollars to build this:

 The new building currently goes by the not so glorious name of the 'Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre', only a particularly dull committee of bureaucrats could come up with that.
I don't care what they call it, apart from the occasional check I don't plan on spending much time there. What I do hope is that the current culture of outstanding professionalism and extraordinary care that exists in the old building can be transferred to the new one. Given the calibre of people here I have no doubt they will do that with ease.