The Healing Garden provides an oasis at the heart of the hospital. The garden has been designed around the concept that the way a patient feels and interacts with his or her surroundings can be an integral part of the healing process.

Created to appeal to the senses, the garden's sights, scents and textures will form a welcome retreat for patients and their loved ones. Patients as well as visitors will have access to lush greenery as they enjoy the soothing sound of falling water. Organic forms and warm, natural materials will provide a pleasant environment and a nice contrast to the concrete, brick and metal of the surrounding structure.

The garden, accessible from the fifth floor waiting area, can be viewed from three floors of the hospital. The brick pathway beckons visitors, guiding them around the four sides of the glass pyramid that tops the hospital's atrium. The wide, level paths, as well as an accessible entrance, will easily accommodate wheelchairs.

Vine-covered alcoves and comfortable wood benches will offer peaceful, private places to gather or rest. Walls of falling water separate some of the seating areas, lending additional privacy for conversation while drowning out the noises of the city.

Trees and shrubs, hanging baskets, bamboo and climbing ferns will provide distinctive textures in varying shades of green. Blooming spring and summer plants such as hydrangeas and honeysuckle will give way to bursts of color from camellias, Japanese maples and holly berries in the fall and winter. The pleasant scent of rosemary and other herbs will bring a gentle fragrance to the spot.

At night, the garden will be illuminated, and yet another view awaits visitors as they look down through the glass pyramid into the light-filled atrium on the hospital's first floor.