TAMPA, Fla. (AP) _ A Tampa cancer hospital is opening a teen lounge to encourage patients to meet and hang out during treatment.

Moffitt Cancer Center announced this week that its new teen and young adult lounge had opened. Hospital officials said they wanted the lounge to provide a homey environment. Ten percent of Moffitt’s patients are young adults.

The lounge is the brainchild of Dr. Damon Reed, who said he’d had many conversations with patients who shared their feelings of isolation. Reed said he wanted to design a facility to ease patients’ loneliness and provide them with a lifetime of support and friendships.