News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville Regional looking for more community partners to take part in grounds improvements around the hospital.
Foundation Director John Bell said they are looking for larger companies or organizations who would be willing to adopt an area on the campus and visit once or twice a year to maintain it. Bell said they are offering sponsorships for people to work on everything from shrubs and trees to whole sections of the grounds like the cancer center’s gardens.
“When you come and visit the hospital, whether you want to be here or not, if it’s an unexpected visit, we want it to be an appealing place and a friendly place to visit,” Bell said. “And this is a community hospital, so we want our community to have a direct hand in the grounds and maintaining it and making it ours.”
Bell said there is not a master plan for all of the beautification efforts but they are hoping to see at least four companies assist in the work each season of the year. Bell said they are also looking for smaller organizations like civic or student groups who can visit more frequently to help clean and weed an area of their choosing.
“This is a huge campus,” Bell said. “So there’s a lot of opportunities for folks to kind of help us grow this community initiative to make the hospital grounds our community hospital’s grounds.”
Bell said organizations can also have a say in the kind of work and the types of plants they are adding to the hospital as long as they follow the hospital’s guidelines.
“We have many plants that have been installed around the campus that are memorial plants or honorarium plants and we encourage folks to do those,” Bell said. “If you want to do a gift with a small plaque and plant a permanent tree or some shrubs or tackle a whole area with a group of people we’d love to get you involved.”
Bell said they have several project concepts they are working on to add or improve various gardens around the hospital.
“We have a butterfly garden we hope to establish later this fall,” Bell said. “That’ll take two seasons of work, outside the cancer center. We have a memorial path between the main entrance of the hospital and the cancer center. There is a flower garden by the women’s center that needs a little updating. And there’s about three large beds at different entrances of the hospital that don’t have anything specific. They have greenery there now and some rocks and they’re nice, but they could be wonderful with a little bit of community support.”
Bell said anyone who wants to get involved in the effort can call (931) 783-2003 or email the foundation.
