NORWAY — Coffee shop patrons at Stephens Memorial Hospital are upset about changes coming to the popular gathering spot.

Hospital spokeswoman Barbara Allen said last week that a survey found people wanted extended hours, more comfortable seating and Wi-Fi Internet service. When it reopens, The Cafe at Stephens will provide all of those things, but some of its patrons are afraid it will lose the camaraderie they feel when they visit.

Lorraine Skinner of Norway said she’s collected nearly 150 signatures calling for the hospital to cancel plans to remodel the coffee shop.

“Why change a good thing?” she asked in her petition to the hospital. “Everyone gets along. Everyone shares tables, whether we know them or not.”

She said she could have collected more signatures, but most of the volunteers didn’t want to sign it for fear of losing future volunteer opportunities.

The coffee shop will be open 24 hours a day when it reopens, but food will be prepared in the cafeteria kitchen and placed in vending machines, according to a press release from the hospital.

Volunteers won’t be cooking or busing tables but will be helping patients to the seats and helping them use the vending machines. Coffee will be self-serve.

For years, the coffee shop has offered inexpensive food. Coffee is 80 cents, and most sandwiches cost less than $3. With just a few tables, the cozy space keeps everyone sitting close together.

Marion Denbow of Norway said it’s a place to make friends. It gives patients and their families someone to talk to. “It’s the sense that you belong,” Denbow said.

One volunteer who asked not to be named said patients often confide in her. Not about their medical conditions, but about how they’re feeling. She said she plans to find some volunteer work to do at the hospital.

Another volunteer, Ed Lyons of Oxford, said he learned of the closing not from the hospital, but in a conversation with a friend at Walmart. “That’s a pretty shameful way of finding out,” he said.

He said people who have had to fast for blood tests and other procedures often head straight to the coffee shop once they’re done. “They come in there and they know that it’s going to be there.”

Not everyone is upset about the change. Gaynor Fitch, a frequent customer there, said he thinks the changes will make the coffee shop better. “No one likes changes,” Fitch said.

But Theresa Clifton of Norway said the atmosphere of the little coffee shop is important to patients and elderly people who visit every day. For many, coming to the coffee shop gives them a purpose and gives them a chance to talk to old friends. “That’s what keeps you in good health.”

The hospital press release said The Cafe at Stephens will be open in August.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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