On June 6, the culmination of the Auxiliary of Springfield Hospital Center’s planning, fertilizing and planting during the last year-and-a-half will finally be realized.
The garden, located in the central courtyard of the Hitchman Building at the Springfield Hospital Center, has been totally overhauled and will be dedicated as the Serenity Garden. The state has provided a bronze dedication plaque that will forever commemorate the garden’s creation. Gaye Grimes, president of the Auxiliary, said it will be a closed ceremony open to staff and volunteer service members only.
Paula Langmead, CEO of the Springfield Hospital Center, said she noticed many hospitals she had visited across the nation had designated an area that was designed to instill feelings of peace and tranquility to patients and their families. Langmead decided to incorporate this idea, known as sensory modulation, into the Springfield Hospital Center, and said she couldn’t think of a better location than the Hitchman Building.
“The building was ideal because it was built in a circular design so this is an area that is central and the area is conducive to a garden,” Langmead said.
According to The Permanente Journal, a peer-reviewed medical journal, utilizing sensory modulation approaches and tools means the need for seclusion and restraint, which are far more coercive methods of treatment intervention, are reduced.
Grimes said sensory modulation guidelines were used when designing the garden, from the colors of the flowers to the construction, transportation and installation of a water feature. The garden occupies a total of 2,080 square feet, while the fountain is 9 feet by 11 feet and constructed from solid basalt. The purpose of the Serenity Garden is to calm patients, to limit violent outbursts and the resulting injuries to both staff and themselves, she said.
“When we designed it, we tried to keep in mind what was calming, and comforting and serene,” Grimes said. “It’s quiet and all you hear is the waterfall.”
The Auxiliary hired Sun Nurseries, a landscaping service located in Woodbine, which planned the layout of the garden based on the Auxiliary’s specifications and requests and provided a list of flower options and their blooming patterns. Grimes and the other Auxiliary members decided no matter the season, the garden would be able to fulfill its purpose.
“We designed it so there wouldn’t be just one burst of color and then nothing else,” Grimes said. “All through the year, there will be something colorful.”
The Auxiliary has spent almost $50,000 on the garden, the bulk of that being the water feature. In order to raise the funds needed, the Auxiliary has held yard sales, selling items that have been donated to the Springfield Hospital Center or to the Auxiliary directly, monetary donations and they receive commission from the soda and snack machines located throughout the hospital center. Grimes also said that in the four years she has been president, this is by far the largest project the Auxiliary has ever undertaken.
“[The Auxiliary’s] goal is to augment what the state can do for the patients,” Grimes said. “Anything the state cannot provide, we pick up.”
Ellen Dix, vice president of the Auxiliary, said because the Auxiliary is a volunteer-based service, all money raised is given back to the residents of the hospital center in many ways.
Dix added that by thinking of better methods for meeting the patient’s needs, the Auxiliary is also bettering their lives and the lives of their families. Truly, the name of the garden says it all.
“As patients go by or stop to take a look, hopefully the gardens will provide a sense of calm,” Dix said.
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