Right: Dr. Nelson
Hersh fits Hank
Palmer, 8, with an
orthodontic appliance
while Hank fiddles
with a Nintendo
Game Boy.

Below: Christopher
Carr, 9, and Jesse
Smith, 2, play with
some of the many
toys in the Child
Health Associates
waiting room.

Can I Go b9E
Doctor's?

Kid-friendly
doctors' offices
follow a trend
grounded in the
therapeutic
benefits of play.

FRANK PROVENZANO

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

PHOTOS BY DANIEL LIPPITT

first-time patients at Dr. Nelson Hersh's office are re-
luctant,
luctant, to say the least. Going to the orthodontist, for
most adolescents, rates up there with life's most dis-
tressing moments, like boring homework, misunder-
standing parents and unrequited love.
Then they walk into Dr. Hersh's office. A year after mov-
ing to his "new age" office in Commerce Township from
Rochester, Dr. Hersh can predict his patients' typical mono-
syllabic response: "Cool."
If their appointment is on the hour, they'll be greeted by the
sights and sounds of a large Disney clock with dancing figurines.
While they wait, they'll have their choice of Nintendo games,
portable TV or headphones. The only surprise, says Dr..Hersh,
is that kids are treated like they want to be treated.
The "cool" experience isn't confined to the waiting room. Once
"in the chair," young patients find themselves alongside other
patients in a large, open space. "When kids share the experi-
ence, talk to each other, there's no apprehension," said Dr. Hersh,
who noted that more traditional private exam rooms are avail-
able for adult patients who make up 20 percent of his practice.

With the unbridled enthusiasm of a boy trapped in a man's
body, Dr. Hersh set out to create the type of office that he would
want if he were a kid. He acknowledges that there are more than
superficial similarities with the Tom Hanks character in Big.
"I call this place the 'Office of Dreams,' " said Dr. Hersh, who
personally chose every detail, right down to the teal and purple
paint. He hasn't tabulated the cost, he says.
The omnipresent neon, glass-block bench, Where's Waldo
poster and animated cels on the wall are part of a motif that Dr.
Hersh developed after consulting with interior designers. And
he made sure to ask his patients what kind of atmosphere they'd
like.
He says, proudly, that the office is one of kind — this side of
Disneyland or Disney World. Other orthodontists frequently vis-

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