While nurses and doctors are there to solve those problems, they’re also working to prevent future ones. Simplified, a hospital’s job is twofold: react and prevent.

On the roof of the Boston Medical Center, they’re preventing by growing.

The hospital’s 2,658-square-foot rooftop farm grows fresh produce for its food-insecure patients. These patients are referred to the Boston Medical Center’s Preventative Food Pantry. There, they gain access to over 25 crops and can take home fresh food for their entire household every two weeks. 

“The Preventive Food Pantry helps fill the gap for those who would otherwise be unable to access affordable, nutritious food, and this expansion further demonstrates BMC’s commitment to addressing the underlying social factors that affect a patient’s health,” Thea James, MD, vice president of mission and associate chief medical officer at BMC, said in a news release.

Kale, carrots, onions, cauliflower, eggplants and radishes are all grown in the rooftop plant beds, creating over 6,000 pounds of food each year.  A little under half goes directly home with patients, and the remainder is used for the hospital’s cafeteria, teaching kitchen and in-house farmers market, which is held in the lobby every week during the summer months.

The food pantry opened in 2001, and the garden opened in 2016 to provide the pantry with more fresh produce.

“BMC for a long time has had a mission that food is medicine,” farm manager Lindsay Allen told WHDH.

The foods we eat can be a direct indicator of how healthy we are. Studies show that eating more processed and fried foods can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and death. But the reverse is true, too: People who consume more fresh fruits and vegetables are likely to live longer and healthier lives. 

With that in mind, BMC got to growing. Patients are given a prescription to the pantry, where a registered dietician helps them customize a plan and pick out food based on their health needs. The patient can also pick up food for their entire household. In 2017, the pantry worked with over 83,000 individuals.

“When they provide a patient with a prescription, it becomes part of your medical care. It’s more like going to the pharmacy. They do not hesitate to come,” Latchman Hiralall, manager of the Food Pantry, told Boston Magazine.

But the benefits extend past healthy eating for patients and in the cafeteria. It cuts down on the hospital’s carbon footprint, collects stormwater, creates green space and reduces the energy required by absorbing heat that would otherwise warm a building. 

If farm visitors listen closely, they’ll hear a faint buzz. The farm is home to two honeybee hives, which pollinate the crops and produce honey. 

The Boston Medical Center isn’t the only hospital that’s thought of this green idea. Across the country, green roofs are gaining popularity as a way to help eradicate food deserts. 

At the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, patients visit the hospital’s terrace garden and pick vegetables and herbs to incorporate into their meals. Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City transformed its black slate roof into an urban garden five years ago. The space grows herbs and small crops, like strawberries and tomatillos, for the kitchen team to use and for the staff to take home. 

As of 2017, 54% of the country’s hospitals are in urban centers. Those hospitals’ patients and staff are more likely to have a hard time finding green space and affordable, healthy food. Rooftop gardens can solve both of those problems, offering a place where people can experience the therapeutic benefits of nature and gain access to fresh food.

So the next time you’re walking past a hospital, look up and you might find something green.

More: Why Green Classrooms Could Be the Schools of the Future

SINGAPORE HOSPITAL DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE NATURE IS THE FUTURE!

February 6, 2020

Waking Times 

The Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Singapore has been called a “biophilic hospital” because the entire architecture of the building is designed to complement nature, instead of erasing it.

The architects began with a few ideas in mind. They wanted to have visual access to greenery and water, as well as the sound of falling water and the smell of plants. Also, a diversity of plants, birds and butterflies, in a community-oriented space.

The hospital opened in 2010, and the public spaces have been open to patients as well as nearby residents. Some of these spaces are even used for community events like dancing, tai chi, and Zumba. In 2016, roughly 200 people were surveyed by researchers from the National University of Singapore. The respondents consisted of a mixture of patients, staff, visitors, and most of them reported an overall better sense of well-being at this hospital as opposed to others.

KTPH reportedly out-performs all other hospitals in Singapore in the annual Ministry of Health public satisfaction survey nearly every year. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital is a 761-bed general and acute care hospital, serving more than 550,000 people living in the north of Singapore.

According to the hospital’s website:

KTPH combines medical expertise with high standards of personalised care, set within a healing environment, to provide care that is good enough for our own loved ones. From intuitive wayfinding to logical clustering of services, KTPH’s design is focused on providing a hassle-free experience for patients. The hospital has been designed with patients’ comfort in mind. Since its opening, the building has garnered numerous awards for its green and energy efficient design. Patients can enjoy comfortable accommodation in different categories of wards with views of greenery and naturally cool air from improved ventilation. KTPH also provides a wide range of outpatient specialist services.