Get That Feeling
At Rio Grande Hospital, outdoor healing, nature, and walking to treatment are all part of the program to put you on the road to recovery.
Rio Grande Hospital CEO Arlene Harms often struggled to prioritize her own healthy lifestyle while overseeing Del Norte’s critical access facility and level IV trauma center. In 2016, though, that changed when bestselling author Dan Buettner—the Blue Zones guy—gave a keynote address at a conference Harms attended.
“Most of the countries [Buettner] referenced during his speech were poor or rural—or both,” Harms recalls. And that piqued the chief-executive’s interest since, she says, “Del Norte is a poor, rural area.” Harms immediately saw an opportunity to cut local health care costs, and bolster the San Luis Valley community by bringing empowered health care practices to the hospital where she works.
Nearly a decade after pitching her vision for a wellness center to Rio Grande Hospital’s board of trustees—after ample planning and some Covid-related delays—Harms and her team celebrated the opening of their 760-square-foot Wellness Center last June.
The new facility includes a kitchen for educational cooking classes, fitness room, community gathering spaces, and—best of all—easy access to the outdoors. A handful of existing trails run past the hospital, explains wellness center manager Eric Valdez, noting, “Rio Grande County is currently working on connecting them directly to our center.”
“Moving naturally is so much more appealing to me than exercising,” says Harms before mentioning the added benefits gained from moving in the great outdoors. No need to tell it twice to board-certified pediatrician Stacy Beller Stryer, MD.
The research is compelling: Many studies have demonstrated that spending time outdoors can decrease stress, burnout, and other general health complaints, Beller Stryer says. As associate medical director at Parks Rx America (PRA)—a national nonprofit encouraging medical providers to prescribe nature in clinical settings—Beller Stryer is always ready to talk about the benefits associated with time spent in nature. In September, she’ll visit the Wellness Center to teach hospital employees about nature prescriptions. “The goal is to educate staff on the benefits of the outdoors, how to use nature to improve their own health and—the main event—how to issue nature prescriptions to improve the health of their patients and community,” Beller Stryer explains.
In addition to trails, the Wellness Center’s on-site geodesic grow dome is a soothing place for medical providers and community members to unwind. “Just to clarify, walking isn’t the only thing we recommend,” Beller Stryer says, noting that garden visits can also decrease burnout while bolstering overall health, well-being, and happiness. The Wellness Center also has plans to partner with local Head Start programs to get the community’s youngest members digging into the healing power of nature.
Cover photo: Blue River Collective
