As visitors to Metro Health Hospital will tell you, the soothing effect that music has on the mind, body and soul is no secret, thanks to community philanthropist Bea Idema.Idema, who is an avid supporter and lifelong lover of the musical arts, recently donated a majestic self-playing grand piano that sits in the Metro Café, located inside the Wyoming-based community hospital. Graceful melodies from the piano now quiet the noise from the café and nearby hallways and are music to the ears of family members and friends of Metro’s patients.
“Metro is a unique hospital,” Idema said. “It’s a place that has the calmness of nature wrapped into its very design. The music this piano will bring to a busy area of the hospital is just another way to support the soothing, healing environment Metro has worked so hard to create.”
Hundreds of studies have documented the effectiveness of using music in hospital settings to help promote healing, particularly for pain management, oncology, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, during childbirth and for recovery from surgery. Music in visitor and waiting areas can likewise help soothe, comfort and relax friends and family members of patients during what are often stressful times.
A second grand piano, funded by another small group of donors, carries therapeutic tunes to those receiving treatment at The Cancer Center at Metro Health Village. Patients experience the soothing melodies while researching in the library or waiting for treatment.
“To celebrate our move to our new hospital in 2007, we rented a piano for our cafeteria for several months,” said Laura Staskiewicz, chief development officer of the Metro Health Hospital Foundation. “Our staff, patients and visitors all loved it – and missed the piano when we had to return it. The generous gift of Bea Idema has restored music, and all its powerful healing properties, to our halls.”
A previous gift by Idema and her late husband, Bill, helped create a natural space on the grounds of the hospital, which further supports Metro’s holistic approach to medicine. The Bill and Bea Idema Healing Garden faces the courtyard outside the Metro Café and ties together nature with the landscape and architecture of the hospital.