News Releases

“Marnie’s Garden”: A room of solace at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

Houston, Texas, June 15, 2006 – When the late Marnie Rose, M.D., was a child, she enjoyed walks with her father along the bayou and thicket near their home. Her love of nature and her passion for treating children combine in Marnie’s Garden, a new palliative care room at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The new Marnie’s Garden palliative care room at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Marnie Rose (pictured in framed photograph). Attending the room’s dedication were (L-R) Dr. Rose’s sister-in-law Jennifer Rose and her parents Lanie and Jerry Rose.

Viewers across the country watched as Dr. Rose, a pediatrician, battled rare brain cancer on the ABC television program “Houston Medical” in 2002. Dr. Rose succumbed to her illness soon after the series ended. She was 28.

Determined to continue her work, her parents, Jerry and Lanie Rose, created the Marnie Rose Foundation to raise money for Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and for brain cancer research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The annual Run for the Rose and Ridin’ for the Rose events draw an increasing number of participants each spring and have netted more than $1.5 million dollars for the two organizations.

This year, a $93,000 donation of event proceeds funded development of Marnie’s Garden at Children’s Memorial Hermann. The dedicated room offers a comforting, private space where families can spend their final moments with their dying infants and young children.

“This room provides the family an appropriate environment to hold and comfort their children in the last hours of life,” said neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse Gina Jones. “The majority of infants that are admitted to the NICU go home. For those who do not survive for one reason or another, it’s critical that their families have the support they need.”

Nurses, Child Life specialists, chaplains and palliative care staff help the families of high-risk infants collect memories of their babies by making keepsake foot and hand prints, taking photos and helping to assemble scrapbooks. Each year, a memorial service takes place where parents and caregivers come together to celebrate these lives. Each family receives a rose, and butterflies are released in memory of their children.

“This room is unique in the Texas Medical Center,” said palliative care director Nancy Walter, MSN. “In addition to providing a quiet, peaceful space where families can gather and grieve the loss of a child, we also offer emotional support.”

“We wish there was no need for a palliative care program, but since the need is there, all of you, our wonderful family and friends, our generous supporters, and our tireless volunteers, can view with pride what you created,” Lanie Rose said during the dedication of Marnie’s Garden.

The spacious area features a beautifully detailed pastoral scene painted on two walls by artist David Grant.

“Marnie loved flowers and trees and vines and dandelions and morning glories. Some of that is reflected in this room,” Mr. Rose said. “Marnie would be just as enchanted as we are by this beautiful room that bears her name.”

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