Disney helps finance Fla. kids' hospital

Mickey Mouse might be helping to cheer up patients at a new children's hospital, with the Walt Disney Co. announcing Wednesday it is donating $10 million to the facility.

The Disney-themed hospital in Orlando will revamp and replace the current Florida Children's Hospital on the site. Officials have not yet decided on the full hospital name, but said it will include the Disney name.

"It's all about creating a place where children have the opportunity to not be so overwhelmed in an environment they have never been in before and to bring them the opportunity to play and have joy and to imagine and dream," Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World, said in Orlando.

Major construction started Wednesday on the seven-story, 200-bed building. The $35 million facility is expected to be complete in 2010.

Disney "imagineers" are still working to "develop the patient experience," said Lars Houmann, president of the nearby 1,700-bed Florida Hospital, which runs Florida Children's Hospital.

Most patients don't look forward to going to a hospital, he said.

If patients are asked "'Did you laugh? Did anything happen that speeded up the healing process?' most of the time the answer will be 'No,'" Houmann said.

He hopes the Disney hospital will change that.

"You'll be in a setting that just allows everyone to engage in getting better, including the family," Houmann said.