There are three rooms in the city of Raleigh, and though they are different in size and shape, they have one thing in common. The three rooms are located in three hospitals. They are intensive care waiting rooms.

Let me describe one of these rooms. It is on the second floor of the Wake Medical Center. Surrounding it are three units: cardiac care, surgical intensive care, maximum intensive care. A lot of us have seen the inside of that waiting room. It is divided into small seating areas, so that the concerned people who are there have some degree of privacy. There is a coffee urn and a telephone, and vending machines that dispense candy, Cokes, sandwiches, and other food items. Over in one section toward the back of the room there are sofas and chairs around a television set -- an attempt…