Thanks to this maverick medic's innovative program called "Healing Arts," the medical facility that mainly serves residents of Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View and Los Altos is being dubbed the "happiest hospital on earth" these days. Walking down the hospital's wards, one could bump into a jester pushing a cart of tricks on the way to cheer up patients; or find a motley group of musicians playing some soft soothing jazz in a corner or a patient's face brightening up with a smile while watching a comedy sitcom on a special television channel.

"It's all about creative energy," explains Sickel. "I have found that any activity that exposes a person to creative expressions allows the healing process to begin," he says.

"When people are in a hospital and they don't know what's going to happen to them, it is easy to get overwhelmed by anxiety. But a simple little gesture can make an incredible impact. A harpist playing by your bedside or somebody coming to your room to cheer you up is a small act of kindness. But it is very comforting to the patient," says Sickel.

For Sickel, the idea of bringing art into the hospital began quite by accident. Every time he examines a cell or a tissue sample on a slide, Sickel says it reminds him of a beautiful piece of modern art that fills him with awe. "The patterns are amazing, and they are different every time. It's like watching nature in action—like a volcano or a sunrise," he says. And his attraction to the aesthetic angle becomes apparent as one enters his room.

Sickel has hundreds of books on art, medicine and humor that line the walls from floor to ceiling. And the remaining space is crammed with paintings and pieces of art from all across the world. But there is one piece of art he is particularly proud of. It's an array of small, abstract paintings that resemble a honeycomb but are in different shades of pink and purple. "These are actually slides of human cells, as you'd see under a microscope," he says.

Sickel began to integrate his passion for art, comedy and medicine around 1996 when he was delivering a speech at the American Society of Cytopathology. It was a formal congregation of pathologists from all over the country to discuss the latest trends in the field, and Sickel's speech, to say the least, stuck out like a sore thumb. His topic: "A search for common patterns in art and pathology," and this art-loving pathologist made his presentation with pictures of cells juxtaposed next to modern art. "As I went along, I'd poke fun at my slides, and the audience would start laughing. I could see they were enjoying my speech, and it felt good. After the speech was over, somebody came to me and said that I was so funny and that I should try stand-up comedy," says Sickel.

Sickel took the compliment seriously, and within a few short weeks he was onstage at "open-mike" night at Sunnyvale's Rooster T Feathers comedy club, where he was a smash hit. He says his training in comedy started very young. "I was the second among six kids. So growing up, with so many siblings, you naturally pick up comedy to survive," he says.

When Sickel decided to bring comedy into the hospital, he met Cupertino resident Melissa Parker. "I heard he was looking for a jester to volunteer at the hospital, and the first time we met, we laughed each other silly," says Parker. Parker, 47, is also a part-time comedian whose day job is as serious as Sickel's. She is an investment specialist whose financial baptism began on Wall Street. Parker has always been involved with volunteering work. Living in New York years ago, Parker volunteered as a Girl Scouts leader, even before she was a mom. These days she volunteers at soup kitchens and at her children's schools. "I've always felt the need to give back to my community, and I found that El Camino Hospital was a wonderful place to do that. I've been to the emergency room there with my son on three occasions, and every time I found the people there were just wonderful," she says.

So every Friday afternoon, Parker leaves her work early and heads off to the hospital. Wearing a Mardi Gras-style mask that covers the back of her head, the roving jester wheels her cart filled with props for her humor routine. There are funny Hallmark cards, unusual little toys that seem to pop out of eggs and even a talking George Bush doll that utters silly statements.

She quietly enters each room, checking to see if patients are awake or if they would like to watch her routine. "Some patients like to be by themselves on any given day, and I'm very careful about respecting their privacy," she says. But as she enters into the room of 80-something Donald Davis, she says, "You never know whose life you are going to be touching today."

Davis, a Los Altos resident, has been in the hospital for eight days and is grateful for a bit of cheer. After a chirpy little introduction, Parker sits beside her patient and reads from her collection of humorous cards. Every time she hits a punch line, Davis' eyes twinkle. Parker pulls out her bottle of unbreakable bubbles, and Davis' face breaks into an smile as he tries to test the "popability" of the bubbles.

"The bubbles are always a success. You give so little. But when you watch their faces, you get so much more in return," says Parker.

Davis says he enjoyed Parker's little performance. "It raises things a bit," he says with a smile.

While Parker volunteers her time, the jazz musicians are paid. The hospital recruits jazz and classical guitarists and musicians who play both Celtic and regular harp. "The music is not just for the patients. It is also for the staff. They are working for long hours and are stressed all the time. The music helps them relax, too," says Sickel.

Initially Sickel was spending his own money—up to $10,000 a year—to sponsor the musicians. "I could just afford five hours of their time a week. But it was wonderful to see the change happening," says Sickel. Apart from playing near certain wards inside the hospital, every Wednesday afternoon the musicians play in the atrium near the critical-care unit, and this has become a gathering place for doctors, nurses, hospital staff and even visitors to relax and get a latte.

One day Sickel got a call from the hospital foundation saying the foundation would like to help the work he was doing. "It was like you are a screenwriter in Hollywood and out of the blue, you get a call from a big director. It felt really good to think that the hospital was behind me—that this work has gone from a behind-the-scenes, grass-roots kind of project to something that the hospital thinks is really important," he says.

Sickel has also put together three closed-circuit channels for the hospital that are especially designed for recuperating patients. One channel has six hours of continuous comedy programs, showing reruns of old sitcoms such as I Love Lucy and The Carol Burnett Show. The second channel offers hours of meditation and relaxation techniques. And the third channel, CARE (continuous ambient relaxation environment), has six hours of nature footage.

El Camino Hospital has been running such innovative programs for a long time. For some five years, volunteers from Therapy Dogs International have been bringing pooches to meet patients. "Dogs instinctively know when a patient needs them, and they will act accordingly," says Jennifer Underwood, a Sunnyvale resident who volunteers with her two dogs at El Camino. Every week Underwood and her Rhodesian Ridgebacks visit the subacute wing of the hospital where patients are in for a long-term recovery with acute medical conditions like paralysis or even coma. "We always make sure the patient is comfortable with a dog around before we let the animals do the work. In the case of a patient who is unable to move his or her arm because of a stroke, the dogs will lick their hand or go underneath the hand and lift it gently with their heads. It is amazing to watch them in action, and the patients love it. Sometime just having the dog around is a huge stress relief even for doctors and nurses," says Underwood.

Barbara Naylor, another volunteer from the pet therapy program, brings in her yellow Labrador, Hobie, every week. She says that there is marked physical difference in patients after they have interacted with these four-legged therapists. "There are actually pictures of stroke patients with pale faces before meeting the dogs and after-pictures which show their cheeks flushed with color," she says.

As for Sickel and his Healing Arts program, the hospital foundation is planning a fundraiser titled "Heartstrings" on September 26. The event will be a live and silent auction with the proceeds going toward various aspects of the program.

"To me personally, this program has been amazing. It is great for a person's self-esteem—keeps you grounded and moving in a positive direction," says Melissa Parker. "Of course there are days when I feel bad and have to drag myself here. But once I meet the patients and see their faces light up with a smile, then I know it's all worth it, " she says.

For more information about the fundraiser, call Lindsay Greensweig at 650.988.7849 or go to www.elcamino hospital.org/heartstrings.