You would be suprised how much a little peek at the outside world can impact your day when you're stuck in the hospital long term.
Regarding the new parking deck behind the main building, I was under the impression that they are planning the largest of the new additions to be built onto the back of the building. I heard a long time ago that a new multi-level trauma facility would eventually be built on one of the back lots. The feeling that I got when I worked there was that the plan was to do away with the concept of the hospital having a front and a back and move toward having ready access from several angles. I also remember plans for construction of a new "mega-entrance" with a coffee shop, bank, guest services and waiting area that would stretch from the back of the hospital to the rear employee parking deck. Don't know if these changes ever happened but they would definitely shift much of the traffic away from the front parking areas. Oh yeah...and maybe even spare the pristine view of Grove St.