Hospitals In General

When reading the criteria for stop rejection, it is clear that stops that are close to the ambulance bay and can interfere with Emergency Services are not eligible as stops. I am curious though about anything else relating to hospitals. Many are large enough so that most of the hospital/hospital grounds are not reachable from the Emergency Department or the ambulance bays. Can objects that are on hospital grounds that do not risk interfering with the ED be accepted as stops? I work at several hospitals in my area, and we have several areas open as community resources like libraries or chapels as well as several sculptures, fountains, and artistic pieces. Would these not qualify as valid stops so long as they are located away from the ED and ambulance bays?

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Comments

  • TrevorAlan-PGOTrevorAlan-PGO Posts: 998 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Ive seen tons of nominations that are just the entrances of hospitals. I 1* these for obstructing emergency services. However pieces of art, and things like some have sculptures and garden areas... I'm inclined to approve those. IDK maybe I'm wrong. If its iffy or not great I will tend to not rate them as an approval, I don't think having a **** ton of stops in a hospital is safe either

    For example, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, my friend worked there and when PoGO had its popularity explosion, they had almost ALL of the stops removed because it was causing problems between random interlopers, and also employees playing.

  • 0X00FF00-ING0X00FF00-ING Posts: 769 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My local hospital has a museum-quality display of nursing/medical artifacts on its ground floor. On all counts that would qualify as a wayspot, but I choose not to submit it, on the grounds I don't want to be in any way responsible for "obstructing emergency services".

    On the other hand, there is also a garden near its back, which has long been a portal in Ingress (pre-Wayfarer), and its location does not in any way block anything.

  • PDSchroeder-PGOPDSchroeder-PGO Posts: 38 ✭✭

    I absolutely agree that it's not a great idea to have a truckload of stops at the hospital, though I personally don't really see the harm in a couple so long as they are located away from the Emergency Department. I also think that the days of the popularity explosion are over, so I'm a little less worried about events like that occurring. I submitted a few stops recently that exist on hospital grounds as I felt that they represent reasonable stops that shouldn't cause any problems as far as the ED is concerned.

    One is a collaborative painting/mural done by some of the children participating in behavioral health.

    Another is was a Little Free Library located on hospital grounds, but once again located far away from the ED.

    The last was the health library which is an item open to the public; once again, far from the ED.

    All of these are located within the blackhole that is the queue, and I am just wondering what the chances that any of them are accepted are.

  • SookieIlych-PGOSookieIlych-PGO Posts: 50 ✭✭✭

    yeah at stanford here there’s tons of stops within the hospital away from the emergency department and it doesn’t obstruct anything which makes them acceptable as long as they otherwise meet the criteria

  • tp235-INGtp235-ING Posts: 1,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not to mention interfering with emergency services.

    The common citizen does not want players who have no business in that place, such as hospitals, police, military bases, power plants, etc., to enter for the sake of the game in the social life we live.

    If you are not involved, get out!

    That's what the security guards will tell you.


    I think this social common sense makes it inappropriate to have anything on the premises, even if it is not near an emergency entrance or exit.

    And I think that Wayspot, which already exists today, needs to be removed from all games in the near future.

    Our games are built on the common sense of social life.

    We are expected to abide by the rules of society before trying to satisfy our own desires.


    Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  • tp235-INGtp235-ING Posts: 1,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You can argue with me, but I have always seen the lack of compliance of some game players with social rules and game rules.

    As such, I do not expect them to be moral.

    For some time now, there have been numerous media reports of such players crowding into dangerous or limited areas and socially despising them.

    We have seen Wayspot removed and "No Location Based Game Players Allowed" signs put up because of this behavior, even in places that are open to everyone.

    You can hope for moral support as you do.

    But, we should also consider the fact that the aforementioned places are now clearly marked for denial.

    If we are regarded as public enemies, it will be impossible for us to continue our game.

  • 0X00FF00-ING0X00FF00-ING Posts: 769 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One issue that Niantic should/would be worried about with regards to hospitals is that not all "emergencies" occur specifically at the ambulance drop-off points. And it asks too much of reviewers to try and determine where inside the hospitals the "acute care" wards are, and on which floors.

    On the other hand, not all hospitals have any emergency services. One local one is run by nuns and is dedicated to recovery and rehabilitation.

    So as submitters and reviewers, do be cautious about what locations you nominate or accept. And as players, be acutely wary of how you behave in/near such places.

  • CipherBlakk-PGOCipherBlakk-PGO Posts: 309 ✭✭✭✭

    Hospitals can certainly restrict access and submit takedown requests if players aren't respectful. Barring that, there's nothing about a hospital (or military bases, even) that prevents nominations that meet criteria. People live and work there and there are public spaces with good POIs that are explicitly meant for socialization, recreation, and exploration.

  • ArabellaArdelia-PGOArabellaArdelia-PGO Posts: 236 ✭✭✭
    edited September 2021

    I can see both sides of this..... as someone who played PoGo while my mom spent a significant portion of her final months in the hospital, I was grateful to be able to reach 4 stops from her room. BUT that same hospital has an ER that covers pretty much the entire ground/basement floor, so there's literally nowhere there that isn't reachable from somewhere that could obstruct emergency stuff, even if it's a garden/playground on a different level. So it's definitely a tough call to make 🤷

  • Eneeoh-PGOEneeoh-PGO Posts: 746 ✭✭✭✭✭

    OK, but if something is reachable from everywhere, it’s difficult to claim that it’s blocking or disrupting anything….

  • SookieIlych-PGOSookieIlych-PGO Posts: 50 ✭✭✭

    I get your concern, but at some point we have to just rely on people having some common sense and getting out of the way if a gurney is flying down a random hallway. After all the game warns you to remain aware of your surroundings every time you start it for a reason.

  • tp235-INGtp235-ING Posts: 1,383 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In the "Rejection Criteria" set forth by Niantic Wayfarer, it says that hospitals are disapproved in the "Ineligible location, place, or object" section.

    ”Location obstructs the driveways of emergency services or may interfere with the operations of fire stations, police stations, hospitals, military bases, industrial sites, power plants, or air traffic control towers”

    Fire stations, police stations, hospitals, military bases, industrial sites, power plants, and air traffic control towers are explicitly prohibited. In addition, other locations that fall under the category of "Location obstructs the driveways of emergency services" are also prohibited.


    It does not say that POIs on hospital grounds that do not threaten to interfere with emergency services will be approved.

    I am only stating this rejection criteria.

    A hospital is a place where people receive treatment.

    Hospitals are places for people to be healed, not for us to be healed by playing games for distraction.

  • auntergoaf-PGOauntergoaf-PGO Posts: 159 ✭✭✭✭

    Hospitals are not the place to play games? So what? Libraries are places to play games? What about shrines, post offices? Are you going to deny everything like this?

  • ArabellaArdelia-PGOArabellaArdelia-PGO Posts: 236 ✭✭✭

    I think you missed my point that the main area people would be concerned about is the part that is easily accessible for those with permission while things that could be eligible are an elevator-ride away and much harder for Joe Civillian or Jane Visitor to reach. There might be a play area on the 4th floor, or a cool piece of art in the basement cafeteria (below the ER floor), but it’s hard to get there unless you know where it is. The ER, on the other hand, is very easy to get to if you have reason to be in the building.

  • WheelTrekker-INGWheelTrekker-ING Posts: 3,388 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm sorry that players in your area behave so badly.

    It seems that in many other cities and countries people are able to play outside without disturbing the operation of hospitals and having some PoI inside allow patients and visitors to have something else to do while they stay at those locations.

  • RandomExploit-INGRandomExploit-ING Posts: 948 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Niantic has clearly said that Hospital submissions are fine as long as they don't block ambulance/emergency access.


    Unfortunately most reviewers have not got the message so your viable submission there will get wrongly rejected.

  • sogNinjaman-INGsogNinjaman-ING Posts: 3,313 ✭✭✭✭✭

    "Or may interfere with the operations of ... hospitals".

    Simple interpretation - don't nominate or approve any hospital location POIs - easier all round to understand. Otherwise, we end up with yet another round of "but if you read it this way / but it does not explicitily say not to do xx then it should be approved" discussions. Interpreting the Niantic criteria does not require a battery of lawyers or a bunch of Supreme Court justices to pick apart the supposed nuances of the Niantic criteria. Niantic should really tighten some of them up and "just say no".

    As for me, (as someone who spends far too much time in and around these sorts od places, anything on a Hospital site is going to get an "auto-1*" review.

  • xth1ef-PGOxth1ef-PGO Posts: 4 ✭✭

    Same as above, very fortunate that I had 2 Pokestops and a Gym whilst in hospital. They definitely are eligible, but having the catch all blocks emergency services reason, it is very easy to pool all the submissions together there.


    Besides that, the POI at my local hospital tended to be near outside staff / resting areas where people grab fresh air, lunch or a cigarette. There is also plenty of public transport so that can be considered too. Hope this helps someone!

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