Saturday, June 28, 2003

Cumberland Health Care Foundation managing director Jodi Swan looks over architectural drawings for a healing garden which will soon to be constructed at the Cumberland Heath Care Centre in Upper Nappan. The Project is being made possible by a bequest made to the foundation by the late Holly L. Spicer of Spencer's Island. The healing garden will be named in her memory. (Dempsey)

Healing garden to honour the late Holly Spicer - by Jennifer Dempsey The Citizen
UPPER NAPPAN - There will be a place where patients, staff and visitors of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre can go for some fresh air and quiet reflection.

The Cumberland Health Care Foundation has announced that a healing garden will be constructed in memory of Holly L. Spicer.
The 5,000-square foot project will be built in an area located between the medical and intensive care units of the centre. Plans for the healing garden include a fountain, scent garden and shaded seating area, as well as a pathway in the shape of a figure eight for walking. It will also have built-in irrigation and lighting systems.

The project is being made possible by a bequest from the Estate of the late Holly L. Spicer of Spencer's Island, who is also a former correspondent for The Citizen. "A healing garden is a place for quiet reflection, sensory awakening and provides a very unique and uplifting experience for patients, staff and visitors," Cumberland Health Care Foundation managing director Jodi Swan said from her office at the centre last Thursday. "It will engage the senses and be very soothing."

"The Holly L. Spicer Healing Garden will be a lasting memorial to her generosity and will be a source of comfort, therapy and serenity to all who will use it," Swan added.

The deadline was last week for submissions of expressions of interest for the construction of the project. The architectural plans were prepared by Gordon Ratcliffe Landscape Architects in conjuncture with William Nycum and Associates Ltd. of Halifax. Swan said the successful candidate should be ready to start the project by the end of June or the first of July. Once the project gets under way, she expects to move along fairly quickly.

An exterior gate will allow 24-hour access to the garden; however, the entrance to the centre itself will always be locked for security reasons. THe project will be constructed in such a way a to protect the privacy of patients in the adjacent medical and ICU units and ensure patient confidentiality.

"There will be trees, shrubbery and trellises so people won't be ab;e to see into the rooms of the centre," said Swan.

"It will be beautiful, a marvelous thing to see," she said of the project. "It will give people a place of solitude and peace, and a place to go outside of the sterile confines of the health care centre."

Also speaking on behalf of the project was Morris Haugg, Cumberland Health Care Foundation vice-chairman and solicitor for the estate of the late Holly L. Spicer. Haugg said he had met with Spicer prior to her death, at which time they discussed the fact she wanted to do something worthwhile for the new hospital. And while the concept of a healing garden was not specifically addresses at that time, after discussions with family members and, in particular, Spicer's nephew Archie Brown of Southampton, it was unanimously decided that Spicer would have whole-heartedly agreed to a portion of her bequest being used to fund the healing garden project.

Spicer had no children of her own and hoped that her bequest to the health care centre could in some way be identified with her name. "Not because she wanted recognition, but because she thought it would be nice," Haugg clarified. But when the hospital was built, there were few name opportunities. "So when the idea for the garden surfaced, we felt it would be wonderful opportunity and memorial for Holly Spicer," added Haugg, who discovered from surviving relatives that she loved gardening. "It would be something that her name could be identified with."

Brown fully endorsed the project, as did the foundation, and the health authority opted for it over a piece of new equipment because of its proven therapeutic benefits. The architect also firmly believes in the value of the healing garden as well as its therapeutic value.

"Studies show that those who have acceded to its beauty, even if only through a window, have scientifically proven therapeutic benefits whether they be patients, staff or visitors," added Haugg.

As as added benefit, a portion of the money in the bequest will ensure that the garden remains in good shape. The bequest was large enough that a portion has been set aside to be invested and the income will ensure that the garden stays in a will-maintained condition for as long as it exists. Approximately one third of the bequest is set aside to make sure it will always be in good shape," added Haugg. "If the fountain needs to be fixed, plants need to be replaced or benches need to be painted, the money will always be there and we won't have to worry about fund-raising or where the money for repairs is going to come from."