FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 17, 2009

Springfield Regional Arts Council honors
St. John’s Healing Art Program

Critically ill patient recognizes creek in photo on her wall
as place she was baptized 64 years ago

Click here to see some of the art features at St. John's

St. John’s received the award for outstanding art collector – business or organization, at last night’s Ozzie awards hosted by the Springfield Regional Arts Council. The award was one of five handed out at Fresh Gallery, a collective gallery managed and run by the SRAC member artists. Fresh Gallery is located at the corner of Campbell and Walnut.

St. John’s current Healing Art program began in 2002 when St. John’s leadership approached Missouri State University to work with one of their faculty as an art curator.  This was at the beginning of St. John’s ambitious multi-year master sites and facilities plan.  Dwaine Crigger, professor at Missouri State University’s Art and Design Department, has been St. Johns’ art curator from the beginning.  St. John’s Healing Art Program creates a welcoming, healing and stimulating environment within St. John’s facilities.

“Art often takes people to a place that touches their connection to their higher source,” says Ann Meuser, Vice President of Mission Services at St. John’s and co-chair of the Design Task Force.  “We travel with people at the most vulnerable moments in their lives. We are with them as new life comes into the world and as loved ones pass from this world. It’s important to have a healing environment for patients and their families, caregivers, doctors, volunteers and visitors.”

Dorothy Price, a 76-year-old woman who spent 10 weeks at St. John’s believes the calming influence of a photograph on her hospital room wall made a difference in her recovery. She came to St. John's after moving from Houston, Texas last November and was admitted to St. John's Hospital’s transitional care unit after her primary care physician in Rolla diagnosed a life-threatening infection.

Price has lived a life of pain following tremendous health problems caused by a 1994 car crash with a semi-truck. She had undergone 58 surgeries before moving back to her brother’s home in Licking, Mo. As she was wheeled into her hospital room, she noticed a large photograph on the wall. It was a photo of Paddy Creek, the small creek she was baptized in 64 years ago.

“I was amazed. God has always been with me, but he was put there – that picture was put there for me. It just meant so much to all of us – my sisters and brother would look at the picture and know that’s where we grew up and the place meant so much to us. I feel like it helped me get well. What are the odds that photo would be in there?" she wonders.

When she was ready to leave the hospital, she asked nurse aide Ellen Daschiel if she could  purchase the photo.  Daschiel and a chaplain Price had befriended inquired about getting her a copy of the photo, so Ann Meuser, Vice President of Mission Services arranged for her to have a print made and mailed to her home at no charge.

“She was feeling bad and was alone and in pain,” Daschiel explains. “That picture gave her a lot of encouragement. It was a neat thing. She and I kind of bonded. She desperately wanted to get a copy of that picture.”

The photo was taken by the spouse of a St. John’s co-worker and is one of thousands of photos submitted by St. John’s co-workers and their families to decorate the Patient Tower and other facilities throughout St. John’s Health System.

St. John’s adopted a formal process for art acquisition that includes oversight by the curator and a design task force which considers the following themes:  the spirit and traditions of St. John’s and the Sisters of Mercy; the clinical leadership of St. John’s in the region; and the area landscape and environment of the Ozarks, to include area and regional artists and traditional Ozark art mediums.

When determining art selection in new facilities, physicians and co-workers from those facilities work with Crigger and design task force members in choosing art from a broad selection for both private work areas and public spaces.  “The physicians and co-workers are exposed to original art created by local people they know and appreciate,” says art curator Crigger.  “I work with them as they select what is most appealing to them and appropriate for their patients.”

Today, many local artists provide their work for the patient tower and other St. John’s facilities, including art in physician offices, patient rooms, and public areas. Crigger personally logged, categorized, selected and framed all of the art and photographs used throughout St. John’s. Crigger has cataloged the entire collection of nearly 2,000 pieces.

St. John’s President /CEO Kim Day says, “Most importantly the program is aimed at creating a healing environment in tribute to the Sisters of Mercy.”  Meuser adds,  “We also wanted to demonstrate our support of the arts, recognizing that promoting life to the fullest should include enhancing the physical, intellectual, social and spiritual dimension of being human.”

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For media information, contact St. John’s Media Relations at 417-820-2426 or cora.scott@mercy.net

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