Tree Campus Healthcare—Superheroes Unite

Photo Credit: Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

At the Arbor Day Foundation, we know that trees have superpowers: they protect us from the harmful increases in carbon emissions and provide us with breathable oxygen. Moreover, our community canopies also lower urban temperatures, decrease stress, and even promote physical activity. It’s for these reasons why we're so excited to continue to help place these superpowers in the hands of today’s superheroes. Through the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Healthcare program, we aim to connect inpatient healthcare facilities with local community forestry programs to provide greener, healthier communities.

Through these efforts, facilities in the program strive to make direct improvements in the well-being of their communities and community members through encouraging the necessary establishment and care for community tree canopies. Our vision is for healthcare providers, patients, employees, and neighbors to enjoy the benefits of a healthier lifestyle that trees provide. At a time like this, it is critical that we address the detrimental effects caused by the shrinking of our urban forests, and nothing represents the resiliency of a community better than the facilities and workers who keep it thriving.

How to Become a Recognized Tree Campus Healthcare Facility

Eligible facilities for Tree Campus Healthcare status deliver inpatient healthcare services such as hospitals, senior care, and other residential rehabilitation properties. The Tree Campus Healthcare program accepts new applications each fall. To receive recognition, a healthcare facility must meet the five program standards that demonstrate the facility’s commitment in providing and sustaining a greener community.

Our 2020 Tree Campus Healthcare Facilities

Through the challenges presented in 2020, nothing symbolized hope more than the perseverance of healthcare leaders in the face of constant unpredictability. Not only did health professionals continue to tackle adversity head-on, but they also pressed forward in tending to the trees on campus and in their communities. Trees play a vital role in the well-being of our communities, and the health benefits they provide—both physically and mentally—are invaluable to us all. That’s why it’s important we bring trees and healthcare together, now more than ever, so that we can create stronger communities united in building a better tomorrow.

This year, the Tree Campus Healthcare program is recognizing 24 facilities—made up of all shapes and sizes— for their efforts in 2020. We look forward to continuing to grow this program alongside the facilities and communities who continue to grow their canopies.

Tree Campus Healthcare Facility Spotlight:

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

During their second year of Tree Campus Healthcare recognition, Penn State University’s Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine hit the ground running by planting 100 saplings on campus in last October’s tree-planting ceremony as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership. Those who attended got to learn about the social, environmental, health, and economic benefits the native saplings will bring to the community and its natural landscape.

Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital

Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital was able to adapt and prosper in their tree development pursuit by helping plant oak trees at Garfield Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These trees belong to the early stages of Spectrum Health’s Survivors Grove of Trees which is dedicated to those who have beaten cancer and offers a serene seclusion to visitors who’d like some respite with nature. They accomplished this planting in partnership with Alliance for Community Trees member Friends of Grand Rapids Parks.

For more information, please visit www.treecampushealthcare.org.

This program is made possible through financial support from professional partner The Davey Tree Expert Company and the collaboration of the Professional Grounds Management Society, Practice Greenhealth, and the USDA Forest Service.

Interested inpatient healthcare facilities may apply for 2021 recognition this fall!