Art is a powerful tool to help healing process in hospitals

Down a long, antiseptic-looking corridor that leads to Diagnostic Testing at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, patients in hospital gowns on gurneys are wheeled by a dazzling array of original artwork equaling that of some galleries. It's a strange juxtaposition. But as recent world events have proven, art's power cannot be underestimated. While it has mocked all that some hold sacred and inflamed the wrath of terrorists in Paris, here at home art is being used for another powerful purpose - to heal. The hope is that this eye-catching exhibit of floral designs, landscapes and abstract images at Englewood - and hospitals like it across the country - might just make patients' anxiety and pain a little easier to bear.