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Gardens
114 | InsideOut Autumn 2015
The healing gardens
BY CATHERINE MACGILLIVRAY
Gardens
InsideOut Autumn 2015 | 115
The holistic and humanitarian approach
to healthcare by heart specialist Dr. Devi
Shetty goes beyond the walls of his new
hospital in East End.
Health City Cayman Islands, which is a joint
venture between Dr. Shetty’s Narayana Health
in India and Ascension Health in the U.S., is
an ambitious development that has flourishing
gardens to complement the facilities inside the
high-tech building.
“We knew that our building design was based
on function first and so we would need lush
landscaping to really accentuate the healing
and Caribbean-feel for visitors,” explains Ryan
Smith, construction and facility manager at the
hospital.
Dr. Shetty previously founded Health City in
Bangalore, India, with the mission of delivering
expert healthcare, regardless of income.
Adopting the same principles for his first
international venture, the initial phase of
Health City Cayman Islands opened in 2014
to provide top-quality, low-cost healthcare,
focusing on heart surgeries and orthopedic
procedures.
Currently operating with 140-beds, the
complex will expand to a 2,000-bed hospital
system with an adjoining hotel for patients
to stay before and after their procedure, and
for their families. Other future plans include
a medical university and an assisted-living
community.
Ryan says they wanted to create an integrated
landscape design for the entire life of the
development, using the hospital as the catalyst.
Entrance to Health City
Phot
os b
y St
ephe
n C
lark
e
Gardens
116 | InsideOut Autumn 2015
Above: Caption
Gardens
InsideOut Autumn 2015 | 117
Margaret BarwickIt was Health City Cayman Islands project director, Gene Thompson – a landscape enthusiast – who directed Ryan to engage the services of veteran landscape designer Margaret Barwick.
Laid out as a series of gardens circling the hospital building, Margaret has interpreted the landscape vision and brought it to life, working with Kurl Knight of Landmark Landscaping, and his team, on the installation of all the gardens.
Her design-brief included creating an uplifting environment for the patients, incorporating native flora in what is a relatively untouched area of dry woodland, integrating practical elements such as food for the kitchen, providing secluded rest areas, reflecting the Indian element in both the design and content, and installing walking/jogging paths.
The individual areas Margaret has designed include the East Garden, West Garden, Kitchen Garden, Medicinal Garden and The Sanctuary.
The East and West gardens are in front of the hospital and comprise large, undulating, colorful borders of shrubs and perennials flanked by lawns to the rear and the roadside, and dotted with palms and small trees.
A meandering, wheelchair-friendly path runs from the entrance, through the plantings, to the east or west sides to connect with similar paths throughout the gardens, doubling as a running track.
Kitchen GardenAnd while Health City is renowned for its state-of-the-art healthcare, the facility’s food is also second-to-none with Chef Vidyadhara Shetty from Blue Cilantro restaurant on West Bay Road in charge of the kitchens.
Patients and staff are offered a choice of Indian, Continental and Caribbean cuisines to tempt their palates, with fruit and vegetables from the Kitchen Garden on hand for the freshly prepared dishes.
“At this time, the area near the kitchen is planted with basic crops and fruit
Left: trees reach second story, right:
butterflies abound in Health City gardens
Gardens
118 | InsideOut Autumn 2015
care side,” Ryan explains. “We do anticipate that integrative medicine practices, championed by Betsy, will make their way to the island’s primary care physicians and that these plants can be used as an integral part of care plans.
“We would love for the Health City Medicinal Garden to be the first used in these practices. This will take a bit of mindset change among our local primary physicians, but the research is overwhelming that they work and reduce/help the need for pharmaceuticals.”
Margaret has incorporated a mixture of Indian and Caymanian plants used in traditional medicine.
“It seemed fitting to include such a garden, particularly as this is an Indian hospital and India is so famous for its Ayurvedic medicine which encompasses many herbal remedies,” she says.
The Sanctuary, meanwhile, provides an area for quiet contemplation with two garden seats
Patients and families can meander around the garden paths.
trees including bananas, papayas, sugar cane, cassava, pumpkins etc. as well as breadfruit, mangos, custard apples, limes, star fruit, star apple, curry leaf, avocado and soursop,” says Margaret.
There are also three Acai palms (that can be harvested for their “hearts”) and, eventually, there will be a large area for seasonal crops such as tomatoes, peppers, lettuces and spinach.
Medicinal GardenAdditionally, the hospital anticipates utilizing the plants grown in the Medicinal Garden, which is being looked after by Ryan’s wife Betsy, who has studied alternative medicines.
“The plants won’t be immediately incorporated into the healthcare program as our hospital is a tertiary care facility, while the remedies the plants have are on a more primary
“The individual
areas Margaret
has designed
include the East
Garden, West
Garden, Kitchen
Garden, Medicinal
Garden and The
Sanctuary.”
Gardens
InsideOut Autumn 2015 | 119
and a fishpond set amidst an exotic oasis.
And patients who are recovering from
surgery can also enjoy the gardens from the
privacy of their beds, thanks to big windows in
the hospital.
“This two-storied building was planted on all
sides with tall-growing trees and palms which
would attract parrots and other birds by their
fruit,” Margaret explains. “Thus the patients would
be able to enjoy this activity from their beds.”
Native plantsNative planting was central to the landscaping
not only from an environmental aspect as
they are already adapted to the climate and
often require little watering, but also from an
aesthetic viewpoint.
“Naturalistic plantings of island flora will
make patients feel relaxed and minimize the
stress already associated with major surgeries,”
states part of the design brief.
Plans are also in place to start a nursery on-
site to propagate plants for future phases.
To help minimize the environmental impact
of the hospital development, felled trees have
been mulched and top soil will be made from
excavated peat, rain water is collected in the
gutters and gray water used for irrigation.
Health City has also been working with
the National Trust for the Cayman Islands,
and the Cayman Islands Orchid Society, to
recover orchids from felled trees so they can be
replanted on-site or in the Botanic Park.
“We feel that active discussions with groups
such as these in our community are the most
productive way to develop responsibly while
meeting the ultimate humanitarian goal of the
hospital which is to help remove the connection
of affluence to quality specialty healthcare in
the world,” says Ryan.
Health City is one of Margaret’s final projects
as she is semi-retiring to France, although she
will return to Cayman to undertake future
phases of the hospital’s landscaping.
“Because of (horticulturalist) Michael
Ferrero’s interest in this project whilst he was
working at the Botanic Park and (general
manager) John Lawrus’s encouragement,
we were able to add many unusual and rare
tree species to our plantings,” she says. “That
has resulted in making the contents of these
gardens a serious asset to our islands.”
126 | InsideOut Autumn 2015
InsideOut magazine is delighted to have become a “Platinum Friend” of the Garden Club of Grand Cayman.
As the club welcomes new members, it has recently opened up sponsorship to friends, benefactors and supporters of the horticultural organization.
Levels of support range from “Personal” at an annual endowment of $100, to “Silver” at $200, “Gold” at $300 and “Platinum” at $500.
Each category offers a rising scale of benefits, from a simple listing on the club’s website (caymangardenclub.com) to acknowledgement of the supporter on an electronic monitor at meetings and events.
“We are pleased to welcome InsideOut magazine as a Platinum Friend of the Garden Club,” says Ora Hollebon, president of the Garden Club. “As a publication that features prominent homes and gardens around Cayman, we look forward to a great synergy between our organizations.”
InsideOut, which is published in the autumn and spring, showcases some of Cayman’s most fabulous gardens and includes other gardening-related topics in every issue.
“We are thrilled to join the Garden Club and anticipate highlighting some of the most creative gardening projects on the island,” says Catherine MacGillivray, editor of the magazine.
Founded in 1957, the Garden Club has an active membership of more than 60 gardening enthusiasts, more than half of whom have joined in the last five years.
Pioneer members included Joyce Hilton, Ena Watler, Dorothy Roulstone, Frances Bodden, Una Bush and Corrine Thompson, all of whom have now passed on.
However, their strong legacy of commitment to beautifying and strengthening the community continues to flourish.
Club ethosThe aims of the Garden Club are to:
gardening and all things related to the natural beauty of the Cayman Islands
in concert with others, to beautify the community
understanding among persons of all races and nationalities who share an interest in gardening
The Garden Club is a registered not-for-profit organization, with members generously donating their time to numerous projects within the community.
These initiatives include work on the gardens at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands; enhancing the grounds of UCCI; landscaping at The Pines Retirement Home, Francis Bodden Girls Home and Bonaventure Boys Home; organizing projects at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park;
InsideOut joins Garden Club
Left: Ora Hollebon, current president of the Garden Club; above: National Gallery gardens where club members
helped with planting.
InsideOut Autumn 2015 | 127
Anyone wishing to become a sponsor of the Garden Club of Grand Cayman can do so by emailing [email protected], tel: 925-5531 or 925-6520. For individuals who wish to join as ordinary members, the fee is $25 per annum.
InsideOut is also a new member of the Cayman Islands Orchid Society, which meets on the second Saturday of every month.
Members enjoy talks and presentations by local orchid experts and guest speakers, and stage the two-day annual Orchid Show jointly with the Botanic Park.
Monthly meetings are held at various venues, including members’ homes, with an annual membership fee of $25 to join the society.
Anybody interested in becoming a member can call society president Helen Hislop on 949-9346 or email [email protected].
Join the club
Orchid Society
and holding a bi-annual flower show.“Our new “Friends” initiative was created to provide
additional resources to take the club’s community involvement to greater heights,” says Ora. “Hopefully, this new relationship with one of Cayman’s premier magazines is an additional opportunity for our talented members to demonstrate their creative efforts and enhance this new initiative to greater success.”
MeetingsThe Garden Club meets on the first Thursday of every month, apart from July and August, usually at a member’s house or garden.
Either a guest speaker gives a talk on a garden-related subject, or a garden tour is held, with refreshments provided.
Gardens