Community Hospice & Palliative Care

The Art of Healing

Cover Image: Featuring Community Hospice.  The mosaic is titled, Marsh View with St Augustine.  (L) Nancy Wansor RN Manager Bailey Family Center for Caring
(R) Marie Furlong RN Bailey Family Center for Caring

​The tradition of integrating art in health facilities can be traced as far back in history as to when the first hospitals grew out of hostels run by the church as infirmaries for the sick and old. Michael Mullins, the co-author of an international study on hospital art, stated, “It is documented that art can reduce the experience of pain through distracting patient’s attention.” Perhaps this is why most health system facilities have curated art collections in their public and private spaces.

Artwork creates an atmosphere of tranquility, comfort, and beauty for our patients and families...”

Since opening its first center for caring in 1995, Community Hospice & Palliative Care has always featured the work of local artists in its facilities. This critical design element provides a calming backdrop for patients, family members, visitors, and staff to the non-profit’s nine offices and ten hospice centers for caring throughout North Florida. These residential-style centers support area patients in need of acute care to control their pain and symptoms. Community Hospice & Palliative Care’s goal is to stabilize the patient, give family members a welcome respite from providing around-the-clock care for their loved one, and return the patient to the comfort of their home. Local art installations have always been part of each center’s residential design, but new centers have recently incorporated curated art collections throughout each facility.

In 2011 the Bailey Family Center for Caring on the Flagler Health+ campus opened to help hospice patients and their families. Two commissioned custom mosaic works Marsh View with St. Augustine and Beach View with Lighthouse by Manila Clough, can be seen in the center’s entrance area. In addition to Clough’s work, you’ll also see paintings by other local artists such as Hope Barton, Ellen Diamond, and Victor Kowal, to name a few.

“Artwork creates an atmosphere of tranquility, comfort, and beauty for our patients and families.  We are thankful for the donations from our gifted local artists who created the perfect complement for our clinical care with their beautiful pieces. They create a warm, welcoming space that becomes an invaluable part of the patient’s model of care,” said Nancy Wansor, RN Manager of the Bailey Family Center for Caring.   
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Also serving St. Johns residents is the newly opened Community Hospice Center for Caring at Baptist Medical Center South Jacksonville. This center, much like its sister facility at Baptist Medical Center Downtown, features a curated art collection. Patients and visitors to either facility can request a copy of the center’s art book to learn more about the featured artwork and artists. What started as the installation of a few signature pieces by local artisans has grown to curated art collections throughout each new center for caring.
Since 1979, the mission of Community Hospice & Palliative Care has been to improve the quality of life for patients and families and to be the compassionate guide for end-of-life care in our community. Art has always been and will continue to be an essential part of Community’s mission of help and healing.