Healing garden: New, quiet spot at St. Charles Redmond
A new healing garden has opened at St. Charles Redmond, providing a welcome place of comfort and serenity for the hospital’s patients, families and caregivers.
Located in the courtyard near the Red Rock Caf, the beautifully landscaped garden features a fountain, a stonework labyrinth that is more than 40 feet in diameter and plenty of seating where visitors can rest, reflect or just have lunch.
“We’ve been trying for a long time to get this to happen,” said Chief Nursing Executive and Vice President of Quality Pam Steinke, who arrived at the Redmond hospital (then called Central Oregon District Hospital) in 1979. “We needed a place where people could have time for reflection and to center — a place to reflect with some intent.”
Steinke began in 1979 as a nurse at the Redmond hospital and has been passionate about the sense of teamwork and family that has persisted at St. Charles Redmond from the day she arrived until today.
With a long, storied history beginning when voters passed a bond measure and became the first in Oregon to form a hospital district under legislation in 1949, the hospital has come to embody a legacy of community and service. This healing garden honors that legacy.
Former St. Charles board member Jerry Andres feels that while the services and facility have grown dramatically since joining the St. Charles family, the spirit remains the same.
“Health care is a big deal and an important part of all of our lives,” he said. “The hospital has always been a key part of keeping our community healthy.”
St. Charles Foundation invites members of the community to become a lasting part of the healing garden and celebrate the legacy of caring at St. Charles Redmond by buying a commemorative brick or river rock to line the garden’s paths. Gifts may honor individuals, families, organizations or caregivers.
“Buying a brick will bring greater hope and healing to St. Charles patients and their families,” said Lisa Dobey, St. Charles Foundation executive director. “Proceeds will also help fund programs, equipment and facilities like the state-of-the-art family birthing center, the new Redmond-based Center for Women’s Health and the intensive care unit.”
Steinke herself was a patient at the hospital when the garden was nearing completion.
“A nurse sat on a bench and filmed when they turned on the water in the fountain and brought it up to show me in my room,” she said. “It touched my heart. We cried.”
Steinke was among the first to buy a brick. The inscription: “Caring begins by being present with compassion.”
A public reception celebrating the garden’s opening and the unveiling of the first installation of bricks will be held Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. Bricks purchased by Aug. 13 will be a part of the first installation.
To buy a brick or for more information about the Redmond Healing Garden, visit stcharlesfoundation.org or contact St. Charles Foundation Philanthropy Officer Jeff Cool at 541.706.6760 or jrcool@stcharleshealthcare.org.
