Imagine that you’re recovering from hip surgery. You’re tired, sore and you long for the comforts of home. A physical therapist enters your room and announces that it’s time for you to take a walk as part of your recovery process. You groan, but allow her to help you get up.
Instead of leading you around the halls of the hospital, however, she leads you outside — into a beautiful garden full of multi-colored trees blowing softly in the wind and gentle waterfalls splashing over moss-covered rocks. As the therapist leads you through the garden, you feel some of your tension and tiredness fade away.
This is the idea behind plans for a new healing garden at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Located in the center of the hospital campus, it will serve as a place of respite for patients and visitors, and will even offer therapeutic opportunities to rehabilitation patients.
The need for hospitals to embrace healing environments is becoming an established fact in the health care field. For example, Health Facilities Magazine writes that “starkly institutional surroundings do not meet the needs of patients and are proven to cause stress. Conversely, areas with views of nature, quiet spaces and exercise opportunities contribute to the well-being of patients and makes a medical facility more successful and differentiated.”
The Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation is working to fully fund the $700,000 garden project. Starker Forests recently made a lead gift, in honor of Elizabeth Starker Cameron, to help get the campaign off to a great start. The garden will be named in recognition of the Starker’s generosity.
“This garden will actually establish our hospital as a national leader in facility beautification,” said Jeff Larson, director of the foundation. “We’re very excited to see the impact this will have on patients, visitors and employees.”