Playing off symbolism suggested by a consultant in the merger process, employees designed the garden around a fountain. Volunteers cleared the small plot and an auxiliary purchased flowers. Today the garden has an Asian feel, with Japanese maples and bamboo as well as magnolias and rhododendrons. Wind chimes tinkle softly in the breeze. Rehabilitation and transitional care patients, who stay at the hospital longer than most, use the garden a lot, noted Janet Hayden, assistant vice president of marketing and planning.
Employees sometimes take their lunch there.
When people become still and quiet, they breathe more deeply and circulation is affected too, she said. The HealthPark's meditation garden occupies a small plot flanked on two sides by the windows of the center's chapel. Rosemary, thyme, digitalis and feverfew, to name a few. It was included on the Owensboro Herb Society's home tour last year. The centerpiece is an unfinished bronze statue of Jesus.