UNM Health Sciences announced a partnership between UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center (SRMC) President and CEO Jamie Silva-Steele and Donna Barnitz, an art teacher at Colinas del Norte Elementary. Each year, the students of Barnitz contribute vibrant artwork to adorn the walls of the medical center, and SRMC hosts an event inviting the children, along with their friends and family, to view their art on display. This partnership is aimed at addressing the emotional toll linked with hospitals by creating a nurturing environment that promotes healing.
The inception of this initiative offers some background into its significance. In a bid to address the emotional toll often linked with hospitals, the collaboration was initiated to counteract sentiments of stress, fear, sadness, and illness commonly experienced in healthcare settings. There are now pieces of artwork on every floor of the medical center. Silva-Steele and Barnitz concur that this is a crucial element for every hospital, according to a press release by UNM Health Sciences.
Moving forward from merely decorating spaces, these artistic additions serve an essential purpose for hospital staff as well. "A hospital can be a scary environment," said Silva-Steele, RN, BSN, MBA, FACHE, according to a press release by UNM Sciences. "We're bringing music; we're bringing art and different combinations of work into our hospital not only to create an environment for healing—but also create an opportunity for our staff and our providers to interface with a different part of their brain they typically do not use in the hospital setting."
Moreover, beyond cultivating positivity among patients and staff alike, this unique approach holds personal significance for some students. This year's art display holds a profound personal connection for Carlos Enriquez-Lozoya, a fifth-grader. A creation crafted for Barnitz's class in the previous year now permanently resides on the third floor of SRMC – the floor where his great-grandmother passed away from COVID three years ago, according to a press release by UNM Health Sciences.
For young artists like Carlos, this experience transcends simple art contributions and takes on a personal and emotional dimension. "It means a great deal to me to have my artwork hung on this floor," said Carlos, according to a press release by UNM Sciences. "My work is of a man wearing a camera, taking a picture of a man, standing in front of a tree, with a background of the sun and a beautiful sky."
