For thousands of years, people have derived health benefits from nature.  In more recent history, research has helped prove the therapeutic benefit of gardens. Clinical studies have found that viewing nature produces positive changes in a patient's blood pressure, heart activity, muscle tension and brain activity. That's why we are creating the Healing Garden.

The Healing Garden will be located on the hospital's campus and will be easily viewed and accessed from the main entrance as well as the parking lot. The garden will be home to trees, plants, flowers, sitting areas, a fountain and other naturally inspiring scenery. In this busy world, it is our hope that the Healing Garden will grow to become a quiet oasis, a respite and a place of solitude – not just for our patients, but also for their families and our staff. Quite simply, the Healing Garden is where we can all find reduced stress, increased energy and restored hope.

The Healing Garden will provide a unique environment of beauty, silence and serenity – the kind that nurtures the body, mind and spirit. It will be a place to experience the outdoors as the seasons and world change around us. The garden will be a place to think, pray, grieve, hope, give thanks and remember.

If you would like to be a part of this unique project at Rice, contact Jean Raatz in the Rice Health Foundation:
phone: 320.231.4141 or
email: jraa@rice.willmar.mn.us

With your help, we can create this wonderful oasis where hope can grow.

click on any of the images above to enlarge the artist's renderings of the Healing Garden at Rice