DAVENPORT, Iowa — Genesis has deemed 2022 the "Year of Healing" to coincide with National Hospital Week, which runs from May 8 to May 14. The name is in honor of the health care workers who have given their time to protect community members throughout the pandemic.
The wall is an interactive display that anyone can use to display their own healing message. Designed to look like angel wings, the feather-shaped stickers fill in the wings.
Genesis Health CEO and President Doug Cropper was just one of many health care workers to put the first few stickers on the wall.
"COVID-19, although still with us, is shifting away from a pandemic to a more manageable disease. We hope it continues that way," Cropper said. "For now we can take a collective breath, pause to remember what we've lost, and also find healing and rejuvenation in what we've gained."
At the dedication ceremony, recovered COVID patient Jeff Galle also shared his story of surviving the virus through the help of doctors and nurses at Genesis.
"I'm living proof that miracles do happen. They didn't know whether I would have my cognitive abilities. They didn't know anything, if I'd even live," Galle said.
He first checked himself into Hammond-Henry Hospital in Geneseo in August 2020 when his symptoms started to get severe.
"I laid my head on the pillow in that emergency room and from that time on, I don't remember much if anything for the next six weeks," Galle said.
He was airlifted to Genesis East just one day later, where he spent three months and 10 days in the intensive care unit (ICU). During that time, a period of cardiac arrest once again put his life in danger. He also spent 31 days on a ventilator.
"For about 10 to 12 minutes, they did compressions on me before they could shock me," Galle explained.
One of the nurses that cared for him during that time was Stacy Wille, BSN, RN.
"What really helps me to focus on the many blessings and chances to heal forward is the patients we saw go home to their families and loved ones. The feeling of seeing someone come in on the worst day of their lives and leaving the best in a matter of months," Wille said.
It's what the new Wall of Healing now represents within the lobbies of Genesis. There is one located at both the Genesis East and West campuses as well as the Silvis, DeWitt and Aledo medical centers.
Galle, is just one example of hope throughout the pandemic.
"I came home on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the Tuesday after I met my primary physician. And I walked in the door and sat down and he came in and he said, 'Jeff, to be real honest, I didn't expect we'd ever have this conversation.' I said, 'I'm here. I'm alive. And we're going forward.' And he said, 'Yes we are,'" Galle recalled.
Genesis invites anyone looking to add their healing message to the Wall of Healing throughout their various locations.