(WSVN) - Being stuck in the hospital can be stressful and scary, but one group is using the power of music to calm patients and hopefully help in the healing process. 7’s Karen Hensel has the story in today’s 7 Spotlight.
The hallways of most hospitals are usually pretty quiet, but at HCA Aventura, that silence is occasionally interrupted by a song.
Ryan Leo is a musician who uses his free time to serenade patients.
He’s a volunteer for Musicians On Call. It’s a nonprofit organization that visits hospitals across the country and performs for patients in their rooms.
Ryan Leo: “I’ve played for patients of all ages, all states of consciousness. These performances are really meaningful because it’s one on one. It’s important to them.”
Musicians On Call was formed 20 years ago by a group of musicians in New York, and they are now performing here at HCA Aventura.
Michelle Klinger: “We’re going to be starting weekly programs here, going room to room performing for patients right at their bedsides.”
The musicians are professional-level performers. They submit an audition online. If selected, they have to pass a background check and are trained to interact with patients and their families.
Ryan Leo: “You want to make sure they’re getting the benefit out of it, and you’re just fully dedicated to them when you’re playing in that moment.”
Michelle Klinger also volunteers with Musicians On Call. She guides Ryan through the hospital.
Michelle Klinger: “Which are the ones that take the musicians room to room and to make sure that everything runs smoothly in the patients’ rooms.”
Both Michelle and Ryan work together to create an unforgettable moment for patients at HCA Aventura’s Rehabilitation Center.
Ryan Leo: “Sometimes you see an instant reaction and dancing and movement from the people, so it just really changes their sense of emotion and feeling in that moment. So it’s usually all like just, ‘This is the greatest thing.'”
And Ryan hits just the right note for each of the patients he visits.
Patient: “I don’t know what that song was, but it keeps soothing and soothing, it just healed my heart, man.”
Knowing that warms Ryan’s heart.
Ryan Leo: “I think, just, yeah, it’s been a great experience, and really, that healing power of music and the impact that you can see is just indescribable.”
And the opportunity to create beautiful music will have Ryan and other volunteers coming back every week.
Karen Hensel, 7News.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
musiciansoncall.org
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