Hospitals and Emergency Rooms

Bringing Calm to Hospitals and ERs with Soothing Scapes

Hospitals and emergency rooms are environments where stress, anxiety, and urgency are constants. Patients arrive seeking immediate care. Doctors, nurses, and staff work tirelessly under high pressure.

In these intense settings, creating a space that offers calm and serenity can be a lifeline—both for patients and the healthcare professionals who care for them.

At Soothing Scapes, we provide photography specifically designed to bring tranquility to healthcare environments. Our serene landscapes and seascapes offer a much-needed escape from the stress of hospital life. These images transform the aesthetic of waiting rooms and hallways and help to create a soothing atmosphere that promotes healing and relaxation.

Imagery can completely transform a space from sterile to serene.

How Art Can Benefit Your Patients and Staff

Scientific research shows that the inclusion of art in hospitals can:

In emergency departments, these benefits can be even more pronounced. Patients who experience pain and fear need something to help them feel safe and comforted. Our landscapes offer that sense of peace. For hospital staff, art that evokes serenity can provide a momentary mental escape, helping them recharge and remain focused on their patients.

"The stunning nature scenes of Dr. Petrack’s photography is an unexpected site in our busy urban emergency department. Each image offers all those who see them a sense of serenity and hope and a brief escape from the uncertainty of their ER visit…. He has transported this sterile area from a place of fear and tension to a place clearly more beautiful, but more so to an area that feels more human and compassionate."

Transforming Your Hospital or Emergency Department

We work closely with hospitals and emergency departments to select the right images that will have the most impact. Our large-format photographs of peaceful natural scenes are curated specifically to reduce stress and create a sense of serenity. We offer consultation services to help hospitals make decisions around installation, ensuring that each piece integrates seamlessly into the environment. Our goal is simple: to bring moments of calm where they are needed most. With our photography, we hope to offer both patients and healthcare professionals a sense of peace amid the challenges they face every day. For more information on how Soothing Scapes can bring tranquility to your hospital or ER, contact us here.

A Personal Journey: From the ER to Soothing Scapes

I served in leadership roles running pediatric emergency departments for more than 30 years, in several ERs across New York City, Cleveland, and Boston. As a former emergency physician and the Director of the Pediatric ER at Tufts Medical Center in Boston during the Covid-19 pandemic, I experienced firsthand the incredible strain that ER staff endure daily. During the pandemic, the level of anxiety and exhaustion reached unprecedented levels.

Emory Petrack, MD, FAAP, FACEP

As part of an effort to improve the experience for both patients and staff, I served on the hospital-wide Patient Experience Committee. Through a generous grant, Tufts Medical Center brought five of my landscape and seascape images into the ER waiting room and entrance. The response was overwhelming—these serene scenes provided a sense of calm and helped create an environment where people could briefly step away from the emotional intensity of their surroundings. This experience inspired me to expand my work, bringing the healing power of landscape photography to other hospitals and healthcare settings.