They might find solace looking out over the Italian rooftops painted by Tova Snyder or perhaps a moment of escape contemplating the vivid Tivoli, N.Y., skies photographed by Joseph Squillante. Maybe they”™ll even laugh at the quirky pairing of playful orange sneakers with a workmanlike office chair in “Laces,” a photograph by Marc Weinstein.
These works, just a handful of a collection created by regional artists, are on display in the Infusion Center at Westchester Medical Center. The outpatient facility at 19 Bradhurst Ave. in Hawthorne, a complex adjacent to the main campus in Valhalla, is a partnership with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Since its mid-February opening, the 5,300-square-foot unit has been offering medical oncology care ranging from consultations, evaluations and management of patients to the administration of chemotherapy and biotherapy for medical-center patients referred there.
It”™s all designed to showcase not only state-of-the-art medical care with Memorial Sloan-Kettering nurses and pharmacists on hand at all times but also the latest advances in patient comfort, from a well-appointed waiting room to a designated consultation space for the American Cancer Society”™s Patient Navigator Program to 10 private cubicles for treatment, each in view of the nurses”™ station and equipped with both a recliner and television.
The artwork, which ranges from abstracts to landscapes, seascapes to still lifes, is a vibrant example of the center”™s dedication to the concept of wellness and expanding the meaning of patient-centered care.
These works have been carefully selected in a program designed to boost the morale, give comfort to and provide respite to not only patients but also to their caregivers, family members and the center”™s own staff.
“It”™s part of a larger arts-as-healing program,” said Anne Tarpey, a service excellence officer with the medical center, on hand for a recent tour. “It”™s not just treatment. You care about the environment they”™re in, too. ”¦ Your environment is so important for healing.”
The exhibition, the result of a collaboration with the nonprofit ArtsWestchester, falls under the Westchester Medical Center Healing Arts Program. The initiative uses integrative art therapies and complementary healing practices to enhance the health and overall wellness of not only patients but also their family members, visitors and caregivers. The program”™s reach is broad, with art exhibitions and classes joined by music therapy, performing arts, nutritional counseling, yoga, tai chi, reiki, aromatherapy and massage.
“We see them all as this creative integration ”“ heart and spirit,” Tarpey said of the additional services.
And soon, there will be even more offered.
“We are about to break ground in the hospital for a caregiver center,” Tarpey added, something that would gather varied services that recognize how an illness affects those around a patient, as well. The center is envisioned as a place to do everything from take a shower or charge a phone to learning about outfitting a home for a wheelchair or speaking with a chaplain.
Back in the infusion center, the artwork has already had an impact on the atmosphere, said Dr. Michael Fanucchi, medical director of Westchester Advanced Oncology and Infusion Services.
“It certainly beats a blank wall,” he playfully noted with a laugh but quickly added that the addition of the art helps to make it “a more personal, warm” environment that adds to patient comfort.
He has his favorites, he said, particularly noting those Italian rooftops by Snyder as he has an affinity “for things Italian.”
That”™s a prime example, Tarpey said, of how the artwork has already begun to forge individual connections.
That result, she continued, was part of what made the selection process so interesting. As each patient”™s treatment is individual, so are his or her tastes.
That meant the varied works were chosen in recognition that “there”™s no cookie-cutter approach to a patient and what resonates with them,” Tarpey said.
“We certainly were looking for things that had some kind of movement because healing is about movement,” she said, noting color was also a factor. “We didn”™t want anything that was depressing or dark or too thought-provoking.”
Artwork will be rotated as time goes on, with plans for expansion.
“As we move forward, we actually have a steering committee,” Tarpey said, that will be closely involved. “It”™s in the developing stages certainly but really this is an exciting time.”
Janet Langsam, the CEO of ArtsWestchester, has also been buoyed by the collaboration and what it may bring down the line.
“It”™s kind of a first for us ”“ and for them,” she said. The arts council was pleased to help the program explore the riches of the local arts community, for now spotlighting the work of artists that also include Marianne Campolongo, Susan Manspeizer, Bibiana Huang Matheis, Kiyoshi Otsuka and Joyce Wenglowski.
These days, the bright-and-airy space is a place that comes alive with glances at work depicting sea glass and serene lily pads, artfully arched doorways and sails standing proudly against the sky, delicate florals and captivating abstracts.
It is hoped, all agree, that these images will bolster those on their journey to heal.
As Langsam wrote of the project, words featured in the center”™s grand-opening program, “”¦ A reassuring line of poetry, a sense of hopefulness in a painting, a memorable melodic phrase, all these can have a palliative effect as potent as any medical prescription.”
Comments 1