The NHS Forest has been making links with Canadian green space projects. The NHS Forest coordinator visited the New Patient Centre, part of the Royal Jubilee Hospital development in Victoria, British Columbia (BC) and spoke with representatives of the Vancouver Island Health Authority. The hospital has created a green roof as part of their new development and a garden for staff, patients and visitors to enjoy including a reflection area and waterfall. Also within this health authority is the innovative indoor garden at the West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni, which is tended by volunteers.
The Lower Mainland Facilities management team identified a number of interesting projects at their hospital sites. These include a garden created and managed by staff and patients at the Eating Disorders unit of the Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Vancouver, and a number of pocket markets selling locally produced goods within Vancouver Hospitals.
The Farm to Cafeteria Programme in BC is looking to create gardens managed on site which will grow produce for the hospital canteens. The following centres in Vancouver already have green space within their hospital grounds, where they are growing food crops.
Here are some interesting case studies from the lower mainland:
- Farmers on 57th : A group of urban farmers who are cultivating land at George Pearson Centre, an extended care facility in Vancouver
- St Pauls Intercultural Community Rooftop Garden. St Paul’s Hospital offers space on the roof for food gardens that bring different cultures together.
- Pocket Gardens in Hospitals. The Farm to Hospital group have organised such markets at hospitals in Richmond and in Vancouver and across the province. They also have a number of programs in place which grow food on school grounds for school canteens throughout BC.
- Chetwynd’s District Hospital’s Healing Garden. This garden is not only a healing oasis for patients, it also produces food for the Farm to School Program at the secondary school.
For more information see the Vancouver Food Policy Council.
Banner image: Indoor Garden at the West Coast General Hospital in Vancouver, Canada. All rights reserved.