As anyone who’s ever been admitted to a hospital can tell you, they can be intimidating places. They’re sterile and often cold. And they’re even scarier places if you need treatment, but don’t have the means to obtain it. But Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is aiming to change all that, thanks to late jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie.
With his doctor Frank Forte, Gillespie established the Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund to help struggling musicians receive care. Tina DeMarco, Clinical and Administrative Director, and Rudy Walker, jazz musician and patient of the Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund sat down with Steve Adubato, pHd., to discuss the program — and how Englewood is using music and art to help patients — in this edition of One-on-One with Steve Adubato.
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Helping Struggling Musicians Get the Medical Care they Need
“I was in excruciating pain, unbearable pain,” said Walker, a jazz drummer who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 11. “It took a lot for me to play drums, especially in pain. This program, it really saved my life in many ways. I wouldn’t have been able to continue.”
Walker was able to receive a hip replacement pro bono via the Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund — and now artists are giving back to Englewood, via the Art of Healing Program.
“We started displaying art from local artists, community artists,” said DeMarco. “When you walk into a hospital, you walk in with anxiety, because obviously you’re there for a reason. When you walk into the lobby of Englewood Hospital, you’ll often hear music played by some of our local musicians. It’s very calming.”
DeMarco says that Englewood has joined forces with a local art school, pairing artists and patients, so the patients can learn to manage their diagnosis and express their feeling through art.
For more how Englewood Hospital is helping patients, and the Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund, don’t miss this edition of One-on-One with Steve Adubato.
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