Middlesex Health Plants COVID-19 Memorial Garden

Middlesex Health Clinical Engineering Manager Mike Heusser recently planted a daffodil bulb for his father, Ronald, who died of COVID-19 in early 2020. Several Middlesex Integrated Care Coordination employees planted daffodil bulbs for a colleague who lost a loved one due to the virus, and Dr. Alina Filozov, chief of Infectious Disease, thought of the many COVID-19 patients she’s treated throughout this pandemic as she dropped her bulb into its rightful hole.

It was a time of reflection — a time to heal.

Middlesex Health employees planted about 300 daffodil bulbs in front of the health system’s Bengtson-Wood Building September 30, and they did so with a purpose. Some of the bulbs were planted for Middlesex Hospital patients who died from COVID-19; others were planted in memory of those who died from COVID-19 and were loved ones of Middlesex Health employees.

“When the daffodils bloom, we will remember those who have passed,” Dr. Filozov says. “It will be a sign of a brighter day.”

Heusser agrees, explaining that the flowers will be a welcome sight when he arrives at work each day. They will change the landscape and help to soften his memory of those rough few weeks when his father was fighting COVID-19.

“I’m really happy to work for a place that does this,” he says. “It’s very meaningful.”

The Middlesex Health COVID-19 Memorial Garden is made possible due to the generosity of Riggio's Garden Center in Essex, Coughlin Service Corp. and the Middlesex Health Patient and Family Advisory Council.