1. Know Which Hospital Units Allow Flowers

Before choosing an arrangement, double-check what kind of unit your recipient is in. Even when a hospital welcomes flower deliveries, specific floors enforce strict health and safety guidelines:

• General Medical, Surgical, and Maternity Wards: Fresh flowers are almost always welcome. Bright, cheerful arrangements work wonderfully in recovery rooms and postpartum suites. 

• Intensive Care Units (ICU, CCU, NICU): Fresh flowers and live plants are prohibited in nearly all intensive care units and neonatal nurseries due to infection control. 

• Oncology, Transplant, and Burn Units: Patients undergoing chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants, or treatment for compromised immune systems cannot have fresh flowers or soil in their rooms, as bacteria and mold spores can pose health risks. 

What to send if flowers aren't allowed: Ask the family for their home address so the arrangement can be delivered to the patient upon discharge, or send a compact bouquet to the family’s waiting area, to the nurses’ station, or home to support caregivers during a stressful stay.

2. Choose Hospital-Friendly Blooms and Containers

Hospital bedside tables are compact, and rooms are often shared. Designing with the hospital environment in mind ensures your gift brings comfort without creating extra work for nurses or discomfort for roommates.

• Stick to low-fragrance, low-pollen blooms: Heavy scents can trigger headaches or nausea, especially for post-surgical patients. Opt for cheerful, lightly scented flowers like roses, carnations, orchids, gerbera daisies, and pollen-free sunflowers. Skip strongly scented oriental lilies (asiatic lilies are okay), gardenias, and hyacinths. 

• Request a sturdy, low-profile container if the flowers need to be displayed on rolling hospital trays for stability. 

• Request a medium or tall vase if the flowers will be displayed across the room, like on a windowsill, so they can be seen from across the room.

• Skip latex balloons: most hospitals and medical centers have banned latex balloons due to severe patient and staff allergies. Choose Mylar (foil) balloons instead, but confirm the specific unit permits them. 

Cambridge & Somerville

• Mount Auburn Hospital – 330 Mount Auburn St, Cambridge, MA 02138 

• Cambridge Hospital (CHA) – 1493 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139

• Somerville Hospital / CHA – 33 Tower St, Somerville, MA 02143

• Spaulding Hospital Cambridge – 1575 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02138

• Winchester Hospital – 41 Highland Ave, Winchester, MA 01890

• McLean Hospital – 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478

• Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) – 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 (Note: MGH strictly prohibits fresh flowers in the ICU and Hematology/Oncology floors.) 

• Brigham and Women’s Hospital – 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 

• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) – 330 Brookline Ave (East Campus) or 185 Pilgrim Rd (West Campus), Boston, MA 02215

• Boston Children’s Hospital – 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115

• Tufts Medical Center – 800 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111

• Boston Medical Center (BMC) – 1 Boston Medical Center Pl, Boston, MA 02118

• Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (Main Campus) – 300 1st Avenue, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA 02129

• Massachusetts Eye and Ear – 243 Charles St - directly adjacent to MGH

• New England Baptist Hospital – 125 Parker Hill Ave, Roxbury/Boston

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Longwood Center) – 360 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02215
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Main Campus / Yawkey Center) – 450 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215
  Joslin Diabetes Center: Shapiro Building – 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215

• Verify the patient hasn't been discharged: If a patient is heading home within 24 hours, routing the delivery straight to their home is likely the better call. 

• Order early in the day: Most hospitals accept floral deliveries at a front reception desk, where staff or volunteers will bring them to patient rooms. The earlier, the better.

• Keep the card message warm and brief:  A simple "Thinking of you and wishing you a smooth recovery" is supportive without oversharing private medical details.

• Work with a local florist who knows the campus: National internet call centers and order gatherers often lack relationships with local hospital receiving desks, and if a patient is discharged early, an on-site hospital gift shop usually cannot reroute a delivery to a private residence. Ordering directly through an established local shop, like Coady Florist, ensures your flowers can be rerouted to a home address across Cambridge and the Greater Boston communities.

* Key Building Names at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)

• Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care: A major modern outpatient facility with its own prominent entrance off Parkman Street. 

• Wang Ambulatory Care Center: A primary hub for patient care services and clinics.

• Ellison Building & Blake Building: Major inpatient bed towers that house many of the hospital's general medical, surgical, and specialty nursing units.

• White Building & Cox Building: Core historical inpatient and diagnostic wings connected via central corridors to the Blake and Ellison towers.

• Smilkstein / Lazarus / Shuker / Bigelow: Older or specialized internal designations often tied to specific clinical floors or inpatient wards.

• Richard B. Simches Research Center: Located separately across the street at 185 Cambridge Street, primarily dedicated to research rather than patient rooms.