A beautiful garden now enriches the grounds of Northern Westchester Hospital and the lives of those who enjoy it. The Janet Fields Memorial Garden was dedicated, last month, by the Fields and Bauer families, in honor of the loving memory of Janet Fields, cherished daughter, sister, aunt and friend.
The hospital’s healing footprint now extends into a beautiful, therapeutic space. “We are forever grateful to Janet for living a life which inspired such love and generosity and to the Fields and Bauer families for taking their pain and sadness and insisting that Janet’s life continues to have meaning,” said Keeva Young-Wright, President of the NWH Foundation.
During a moving dedication ceremony, Janet’s sister, Nancy Bauer, shared, “We wanted to do something at Northern Westchester Hospital to honor Janet’s memory and how safe and cared for Janet felt here. We wanted to honor staff and families with an oasis that reflects her warmth, beauty, spirit and love of life.” With profound gratitude to the NWH staff for the extraordinary and compassionate care she received at the hospital, her family honored her legacy by donating this sanctuary to be enjoyed by patients, staff, physicians and visitors.
The new garden is located off the hospital’s cafeteria and features lush greenery, artistically designed stone walls and walkways, a flowing stream and pond. In addition to Suzanne and Stephen Fields (Janet’s parents), Nancy Bauer (her sister), and Ken Fields (her brother), many NWH administrators, staff and physicians spoke about Janet’s positive impact on the staff. Hospital Reverend Dr. Sonia Trew-Wisdom, provided a blessing of the garden and all who attended.
One of Janet’s nurses, Laurel DiNonno added, “Janet faced every day with a positive attitude. She taught me so much about the importance of developing relationships with my patients and their families.” Other physicians and staff who cared for Janet reflected on her bright smile, love of the outdoors and compassion for others and how even in her most challenging health situations she was concerned for her family and caregivers.
Joel Seligman, NWH President and CEO, thanked the Fields family for choosing NWH as the place to honor their beloved daughter and sister in such a meaningful way and added, “Being a Planetree Patient-centered hospital is about personalizing every aspect of care. The Janet Fields Memorial Garden fosters that mission and will be a place where visitors, family caregivers and staff will feel cared for – a place of respite, reflection and relaxation, today, tomorrow and for years to come.”
Special acknowledgements were made to Robert Golde, Principal of Towers|Golde, Channing Harris, Senior Associate of Towers|Golde; John Santaroni of Scenic Landscaping; Mike Caruso, Vice President of Facilities Management at NWH; Chris Shopinski, Director of Facilities Management at NWH and the entire Northern Westchester Hospital Facilities team.
This article brought to Inside Press readers via a release from Northern Westchester Hospital.
