Planetree: A New Kind of Healthcare for the New Millenium
Today, healthcare is being redefined. Hospitals are not just for people who are sick. There's a new definition for healthcare that truly meets the dynamic, quickly changing needs of the local community and far beyond. People from all over North America who are interested in staying healthy can find an exceptional combination of services that embrace the mind, body and spirit in a beautiful, rural setting at Windber Medical Center.
What is Planetree?
Over 2000 years ago,
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, sat beneath a sycamore (i.e., planetree) teaching his medical students that patients should be the focus of care and that the patient's environment was an important factor in healing.
In 1977, Angelica Thieriot, the founder of Planetree, was hospitalized at a large institutional hospital on a visit to San Francisco from her native Argentina. She nearly died from a mysterious virus, and after weeks of hospitalization, finally recovered and was discharged. Her experience left her with profoundly conflicting emotions: the high-tech environment was commendable, but the cold, impersonal care she received during her stay was deeply traumatic.
Thieriot's experience led her to develop a vision of an entirely new type of hospital where healing is nurtured in the psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, as well as the physical, in a warm, relaxing, and decidedly non-institutional environment. In such an setting, she reasoned, patients who wish to learn more about healthcare in order to become active participants in their own well-being, would also have access to the information and resources they needed.
Since then, Planetree has become an internationally-recognized leader in pioneering patient-centered, community-based health care and is now a subsidiary of Griffin Health Services Corporation. Planetree has received national recognition in Consumer Reports, Prevention, Healthcare Forum Journal, Hospital & Health Networks, Nursing Times, Trustee Magazine, and JAMA.
Windber Medical Center: A Planetree-Affiliated Hospital
Windber Medical Center is one of a select, elite family of healthcare organizations who have joined with Planetree to embrace its mission of developing new and vastly superior models of health care for the 21st century, that cultivate healing of mind-body-spirit; are patient-focused; value-based and holistic; that integrate the best of modern medicine with time-honored healing practices and traditions. The WindberCare model that embodies these values is a paradigm shift of great magnitude.
To make the ambitious goals of the Planetree model and the ever-changing demands of providing world-class healthcare a reality, an innovative, new management vision is necessary. WindberCare is leading the way with a new integrated healthcare department, the internationally acclaimed
Ornish Heart Program, a first-of-its kind partnership with the Area Agency on Aging, and much, much more.
"WindberCare is innovative," explains Nick Jacobs, President and CEO of Windber Medical Center. "As we create an exciting new model of healthcare in response to community needs, we have to adopt a new internal structure. I want to ensure that our employees can respond quickly to the evolving healthcare environment and to new opportunities." To facilitate this, Jacobs has eliminated traditional management titles such as vice president, and completely overhauled Windber's entire organizational structure in two months.
Jacobs also believes in the healing power of music. So much, in fact, that he and his staff have created a unique program for patients called Music for Healing. "Our goal was to provide cultural entertainment as well as create a healing environment that provides nutrition for the soul for our patients," Jacobs said. "Creating a healing environment embraces the concept that a healing partnership must be formed with the patient and family.
We encourage healing and comfort in all dimensions, physical, emotional, spiritual, social and mental," he explained. "We provide a homelike atmosphere that includes music therapy, bread making, therapeutic massage and meditation, to name just a few."
Out of this whole healing philosophy grew the idea for the Music for Healing program. The first public concert was held on Oct. 23, 2000 and featured music for stringed instruments. This program serves the greater community as well, by providing exposure to diverse musical styles and composers. By using the talented musicians in the local symphony, the program also befefits other musical events and organizations.
The WindberCare Difference: Combining the Best of the Old and New
WindberCare is a friendly greeting at the door... and a hand to guide you along the way - not a cold institutional map with arrows.
WindberCare is a nurse's warm smile... a physician's willingness to go the extra mile for a patient... a soothing massage, and classical music playing softly in the hallways.
WindberCare is soft pastel bedspreads in patient rooms and world class medical programs. It combines the best of the traditional hometown hospital with the most innovative ideas in healthcare.
For More Information:
Planetree Affiliate Program
Windber Medical Center
600 Somerset Avenue,
Windber PA 15963
Tel: (814) 467-3447
Today, healthcare is being redefined. Hospitals are not just for people who are sick. There's a new definition for healthcare that truly meets the dynamic, quickly changing needs of the local community and far beyond. People from all over North America who are interested in staying healthy can find an exceptional combination of services that embrace the mind, body and spirit in a 
We encourage healing and comfort in all dimensions, physical, emotional, spiritual, social and mental," he explained. "We provide a homelike atmosphere that includes music therapy, bread making, therapeutic massage and meditation, to name just a few."