(Immediate) Friday, May 28, 2004

Sona Iyengar
Fletcher Allen Public Affairs
(802) 847-9334

Fletcher Allen Health Care Dedicates Healing Garden for Patients at Fanny Allen Campus

COLCHESTER, VT. -- On May 24th, a large crowd - including employees, patients and community members - celebrated the dedication of a new healing garden for patients at the Fanny Allen Campus.

The celebration was part of Founders' Day, which this year marks the 110th anniversary of the arrival of the first five Sisters from the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph in Montreal. The Religious Hospitallers founded the Fanny Allen Hospital - which is now the Fanny Allen Campus at Fletcher Allen Health Care -- in 1894.

The garden features a grotto with a statue of the Virgin Mary, replicating the Lourdes shrine in southern France, along with views of a beautiful wooded ravine, and dozens of plants, shrubs and flowers.

The garden was made possible by donations from current and former patients at the Fanny Allen Campus and from employees, along with contributions from local organizations and friends.