Ballad Health opened a trio of “lavender rooms” at its tertiary hospitals in Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport on Friday, rooms that will give employees a place to rest and de-stress.
Johnson City Medical Center CEO Kenny Schafer said they wanted to provide people a space where they could “re-energize and have some peace and tranquility.”
The rooms are named for a “code lavender”; Schafer said it’s something they call when someone appears to be struggling emotionally, a code the hospital chaplain will typically respond to.
“When people come to work here they give everything they have, and when they go back to their families, sometimes there’s not a lot left,” Schafer said. “So if we can give them a space where they can come during the day or at night or whatever it is, even if it’s just for five or 10 minutes just to sit down and have some peace, maybe we can give them a little bit more energy with their family when they get back.”
Schafer said they used feedback from employees to design the spaces, which feature dim lighting, zero-gravity chairs, a place for yoga and a salt lamp wall.
“Everything you see here is feedback from our team, and it wouldn’t be possible without their feedback,” he said.
