HOSPITALS: I try to avoid them

My brother gave me his exasperated "where have you been?" look when I was telling him about Dearest Partner's recent procedure and the helpful monitor in the waiting room that allows family members to follow their loved one's progress through surgery.
He told me that was by no means anything new: there was a similar setup when he had his fractured collarbone repaired maybe five years ago.
"Apparently you don't hang around hospitals much!" he said.
He immediately thought better of his scorn: "Actually," he said with a chuckle, "I guess that's a good thing."