San Francisco Interior Designer Kimball Starr Changes Lives at Women's Cancer Ward in El Salvador

Leading San Francisco interior designer Kimball Starr transformed the womens cancer ward at El Salvadors National Maternity Hospital into an environment that nurtures and heals.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 13, 2012

The oncology ward remodelwhich required extensive structural repairs to crumbling walls and floorswas sponsored by the non-profit organization Basic Health International (BHI), along with generous support from local supporters, foundations, and private businesses.

BHIs medical director, Mauricio Maza, says, Every time that I come back to visit patients at the oncology ward, its hard for me to express how the makeover has touched patients that are undergoing cancer treatment. He says after Kimball Starrs design transformation, not only the patients, but the hospital staff, they have such a different countenance.

As a top interior designer in San Francisco, Kimball Starr understands the power our surrounding environment has on sickness and health. Prior to El Salvador, Starr transformed a chemotherapy treatment room at Northern Californias Marin Cancer Care at the invitation of RoomsThatRock4Chemo (RTR4C).

The Marin interior designer selected a drab, claustrophobic room and turned it into a room that patients request. Chelsea, a patient on her second round of chemo for colon cancer who now only wants to receive treatment in the Starr-designed room, says that it makes her feel very relaxed and makes the three-hour treatment much more tolerable. On the heels of this transformational success, Starr was invited by BHI and RTR4C to bring her same skills, talent, and compassion to the San Salvador project.

When RoomsThatRock4Chemo approached me about helping the women of El Salvador, I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make an incredible impact where hope was so desperately needed, says Starr.

The redesign involved four rooms containing 15 beds for patients who are hospitalized, an outpatient chemotherapy treatment room, a nurses station, and a room for patient consultations and other outpatient procedures.

Starr selected flooring materials, tiling for the bathrooms, paint colors, and artwork. She also donated nature images from her personal photography, imagery essential for reducing mental anxiety and pain, and made treatment rooms seem more like an inspirational art gallery for natures small wonders than a place for treating illness.

In the midst of pain and uncertainty, such a pleasant environment leads to thoughts of relaxation and hope, and we will always be grateful for the work done for these women in El Salvador, says Dr. Maza.

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San Francisco Interior Designer Kimball Starr Changes Lives at Women's Cancer Ward in El Salvador