Salem Hospital employees, patients and visitors sometimes may run across a unique “doctor” making his rounds on campus. Mike B. — also known as Dr. Fun E. Bone — has volunteered at the hospital for the past four years.

“I’ve got the best job here because it puts a twist on what people might expect in a hospital,” said Mike. “It changes the whole world for them. Usually there’s anxiety or sadness or fear or even some pain. So for me, I’m just a humorous distraction from that.”

Mike always asks for permission first before he enters a patient’s room. He started working part-time as a clown in 1980, and it soon grew into his lifelong passion.