Hospital landscapers honor moms with roses on Mother’s Day

Roses have long been a symbol of love. Just a single rose can brighten your day, and a whole bouquet can instantly chase away the blues and warm your heart.

The landscapers who work within the Engineering Department at Sharp Grossmont Hospital have developed an annual Mother’s Day tradition to pass these good feelings onto our patients. It’s called “This Bud’s for You.” The program started more than a decade ago and the staff looks forward to it every year.

“The idea is to recognize and show appreciation to our patients and their loved ones for allowing us to share in an occasion as momentous as motherhood,” says Trini Perez-Ojeda, engineering manager at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. “We do this by giving our moms fresh cut flowers, which the landscapers grow and maintain year-round from our hospital’s gardens.”

Sharp Grossmont has more than 250 rose bushes growing in the gardens throughout the hospital campus. Every year, the landscaping team harvests the fresh buds and arranges 20 or so bouquets for moms who have their babies on Mother’s Day. The landscapers then deliver the colorful blooms to patient rooms to commemorate the event and as a special treat.

“Flowers are immensely powerful,” says Perez-Ojeda. “They’ve been proven to reduce stress and promote a sense of well-being and healing. We have visitors, patients and staff alike who find our gardens very calming and soothing, especially if they’re having a tough day.”

All employees and volunteers play a role in patient care
The landscapers receive help from the Grossmont Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary, which runs the hospital’s Thrift Korral, a fundraising vehicle for the hospital that sells donated resale items. Their role in the event is to supply the vases — all preowned — for the floral arrangements.

After the landscapers harvest the flowers and assemble the bouquets, they also include a small handmade card featuring an inspirational quote.

Kari Bernet, director of Women’s and Infant Services for Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Women & Newborns, credits the engineering team for finding a way to make a joyous occasion even more special for new moms. “Giving birth on the day we celebrate motherhood is already a joyous occasion,” she says. “But giving birth and receiving an unexpected bouquet of flowers makes it extra special.”

Because of visitor restrictions to patient rooms during the pandemic, the landscapers were not able to deliver the flowers themselves in 2020. However, the hospital’s labor and delivery nurses stepped up to deliver the flowers for them, and the tradition goes on.

In addition to cheering up and creating a personal connection between the landscapers and patients, the program highlights the significant role all hospital employees play in patient care.

For the news media: To talk with Kari Bernet, director of Women’s and Infant Services at Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Women & Newborns, about women’s health services for an upcoming story, contact Erica Carlson, senior public relations specialist, at erica.carlson@sharp.com.