Editor’s Note: After the reveal of our Best of Big D 2016 issue, a reader wrote to tell us that we’d overlooked one important category: Best Doctor’s Waiting Room. “His waiting room is a significant level above all of them,” the reader suggested. “Go visit him, and you’ll see.” So we did.
Take a trip to office Suite C-506 of Medical City Dallas Hospital off Forest Lane, and you’ll swear you’ve stepped into a well-appointed beach house in the middle of Dallas. Dr. Wayne Kirkham’s waiting room is not your average, freezing, closet-sized space populated by the infirm and years-old magazines. The ear-nose-throat specialist and his team have tried to turn their space into one of surprising comfort.
Kirkham boasts of having advised a host of professional vocalists on the care of their instruments, including Mick Jagger, Celine Dion, and the Dallas Opera company. He’s appeared on our D Magazine Best Doctors list since 2009, a fact that he proudly announces with a display just inside the office entrance.
A giant aquarium in the middle of the spacious room complements dark olive-colored walls and carpet. Perhaps the most notable attribute of the space is the “Children’s Theater,” which is tucked away in a small, dimly lit alcove filled with toddler-sized stuffed animals and two mini armchairs. (Kirkham and his staff select a featured movie each morning.)
You’ll sometimes find parents hanging out in the tiny theater instead of in the open waiting room on the adult-sized, red-and-gray-striped couches. Above the couch closest to the front desk, where the receptionist, Peggy, greets patients, an oil painting of docked sailboats hangs on the wall. If not for the large window overlooking Medical City, patients might think they’re visiting an establishment in an old beach town.
Now, is this the best doctor’s waiting room in all of Dallas? I really can’t say. As a healthy twentysomething, I thankfully don’t have a lot of experience to draw on in making a determination. But, yeah, it’s pretty nice.
Julia Trupp is a D Magazine summer intern.
