Kendall,

You know I work at Johns Hopkins in a clinic just a few blocks North. Maybe I could buy you and Kathy lunch at the Hospital cafeteria before your appt. I'll give Kathy a PM with info.

In defense of Johns Hopkins Hospitals location I will say this. When it was built in the 1860's it was on a country hillside outside the town of Baltimore. As the city grew, it became a fairly well-to-do section. In the 1950's and 1960's the great Urban Flight to the suburbs changed the area. After the riots following the asassination of Martin Luther King, Johns Hopkins considered moving to the suburbs (as many hospitals did). However, when old Johns Hopkins founded the hospital one of its missions was to serve the poor. Hopkins realized it was best located to help the poor and did not move.

The area has been decimated (as have many neighborhoods) by the drug epidemic. JHH and the neighborhood have a tenuous relationship. JHH is benevolent, but it is also ever expanding into the neighborhoods. Houses where people have spent their whole lives are bought, demolished and covered over with more hospital.

The most serious crime concern in the area is theft. Mostly car break-ins. You can take Baltimore's subway right to the hospital and never have to breath the air of East Baltimore if you wish. Parking on the street is not recommended. There is much pay parking in garages on the hospital campus.

Roger in Baltimore