As temperatures cool and autumn leaves fall, the large-scale indoor healing garden at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital remains lush and green with shoots of new growth.  Completed only 7 months ago by interior landscape firm Planterra, the adjoining Main and Quiet Atriums will provide a unique oasis for patients during its first winter.


“Plants bring nature inside the building, so even in the off season our community can still come here and be connected to nature, and really take advantage of its healing affects,” says Gerard Van Grinsven, CEO of Henry Ford Hospital West Bloomfield.

The gardens were designed to maximize its therapeutic benefits, providing natural views to inpatient rooms, year-round walking paths, natural privacy screening and utilization of specific plants that were selected to optimize air quality.  “These gardens are important to me professionally but also personally, as a flower child from the baby boom generation I know that when I require medical treatment, I need my chlorophyll fix.  I feel most healthy when I am surrounded by plants,” says Larry Pliska, President of Planterra and designer of the interior landscaping at Henry Ford West Bloomfield.

The planted atriums are part of Henry Ford West Bloomfield’s overall commitment to create a center of wellness, offering healthy lifestyle education and natural therapies within a mainstream medical setting.

1 comments:

Brandon said...

This looks like a beautiful, restful space. It's great that they are taking the patient experience into account. Seems like hospitals are often such antiseptic, drab places. I wonder, other than a relaxing effect, if the indoor garden has any health effects.

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