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Artwork is the latest in patient care at Lutheran

November 24, 2011 Heather Chin

Photos courtesy of Lutheran Health Care.

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Ask someone what the words hospital bring to mind and you mayhear references to Jell-O, antiseptic and feelinginstitutionalized. Comfort and pretty likely wouldn’t make thatlist.

But a pleasant hospital visit has a huge impact on a patient’srecovery time and morale – both integral to a healthier patient.That is why the Lutheran Family Health Centers (LFHC) networkunveiled a new artwork installation inside the Brooklyn-ChineseFamily Health Center at 5008 Seventh Avenue.

The Thursday, November 17, dedication ceremony was attended byboard members and community leaders, including LFHC ExecutiveDirector Larry McReynolds and LFHC Board of Trustees memberReverend Samuel Fook Wong. It also featured a special performanceby the Shore Hill Chinese Choir.

The paintings and origami sculptures included in the collectionwere created and donated by members of Brooklyn’s Chinese communityand designed to comfort patients with a little bit of nature tomake them feel more at home and still a part of the world. Thereare images of swimming fish, birds perched under persimmon fruit,and even bigger items, such as an intricate origami peacock displaymade out of 1,300 red envelopes.

The origami peacock was created by Phat Luong and his wife,Lee-How Ngo, both residents at Lutheran’s Sunset Gardens. Theintricately folded and interlinked red envelopes that comprise the27x 20 paper sculpture are traditionally filled with money andgiven out during holidays or special occasions to symbolize goodluck and to ward off evil spirits. It took eight months for thecouple to complete it.

The eight framed paintings were created by De Chen, a residentof Lutheran’s Shore Hill Housing and repeat contributor toLutheran’s walls. In 2010, Chen donated 21 original paintings –which include excerpts of poetry -to the medical center’s ChineseInpatient Unit, the only unit of its kind in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn-Chinese Family Health Center was established nearlya decade ago by LFHC to meet the health care needs of the growingAsian population in southwest Brooklyn.