Children's Hospital COO eyes nearby woods for "healing power"

Right behind the hustle and bustle of the Wauwatosa Medical Complex is a secret place of serenity, one that Marc Gorelick, Children's Hospital COO and Pediatrician, wants to uncover for its healing powers.

\"Getting poked and prodded and getting medicines and so on that being able to get away and getting into a natural setting even for a short time can really help their healing process,\" Gorelick said.

The spot right across Watertown Plank Road is called the Sanctuary Woods and is owned by Milwaukee County Parks. Wauwatosa neighbors call it the unofficial dog park, however Gorelick wants to see it preserved and fixed up for the community and hospital patients. Ronald McDonald house president Ann Petrie also supports the idea.

\"It gives you a complete feeling of tranquility and peace and to be able to walk through the existing path and really get that sense of nature is a fantastic feeling,\" Petrie said.

The space also has an interesting past. A mental health asylum once set on the land. There are still remnants of what was there, the perfect exploring ground for 5-year-old Ben Eder.

\"To see more parts of nature, really more parts, to discover stuff, to see stuff they haven't seen before,\" Eder said.

And that's really all Gorelick wants to see happen, children playing, and families enjoying, a natural dose of medicine to get out of the hospital's four walls. He says he's working closely with the parks director to see it happen.