The healing garden at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC is a place away from the clinical environment of the hospital for patients and visitors to relax.
The garden features a therapeutic courtyard with a fish and turtle pond and is filled with a wide variety of produce and herbs. On a typical warm afternoon, patients can be found relaxing and spending time with visitors in the garden. It’s the hospital’s hidden gem where anyone can go to read a book, enjoy a lunch with some friends or simply have some alone time. But the garden serves as more than an outlet for patients. More than 2,000 pounds of produce is harvested each season out of the garden, and it’s all used at the hospital.
Recently, Magee’s nutrition department has begun offering a monthly cooking demo in the waiting room of the Women’s Cancer Center. Many ingredients from the demo come straight from the garden on site, and patients learn how to make healthy, delicious meals at home. The goal of the program is to help patients eat better, and, in turn, hopefully feel better.
