Calming harps serenade at Valley Hospital
SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014, 11:22 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
In the frenzied halls of The Valley Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), Janice Hogrefe might not seem to fit in, at first.
After all, her job is more typically associated with angels and rolling white clouds than the ED’s rushing white coats, anxiety-ridden faces, and beeping machinery. Hogrefe is a therapeutic harpist who strums a custom-made miniature harp through Valley’s hallways.
“It took a bit of getting used to, but now it’s part of the culture,” said ED Manager Chris Robertson, who was being serenaded by the harp during a recent workday. “You can have a crazy day in the ED and you hear the harp, and it’s a little bit soothing.”
The harpists are provided by Bedside Harp, a Pennsylvania-based business that Valley has worked with for 10 years.
Since 2004, harpists like Hogrefe (who jokes that her last name rhymes with “no grief”) have strolled the halls and different departments of The Valley Hospital at staggered times, soothing doctors and families as much as patients.
Bedside Harp works in other hospitals, too, including in Philadelphia, Hamilton, Rahway and Paterson. A contract costs about $30,000 a year, according to Bedside Harp founder Edie Elkan.
Four professionals play at Valley, including Elkan herself, plus Bedside Harp student-interns, like Hogrefe, a mastery level harpist.
By the accounts of Valley’s staff and patients, Bedside Harp has made a big difference at Valley, albeit one that can be hard to explain to someone who has never experienced live harp music before.
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