SPRINGFIELD (June 24, 2026) – Mercy Hospital Springfield unveiled its new memorial honoring organ donors on June 18. As visitors and caregivers passed the memorial wall, they stopped to thank Marla Housley, whose vision and determination made the memorial possible.

Housley is an advanced clinical nurse educator at Mercy Hospital Springfield, and she was inspired to create a memorial for organ donors. As a nurse, she has seen the impact of organ donation and met families of patients who gave the gift of life in their final moments. She wanted a way to honor donors that went beyond the ceremonial honor walk. Also known as a hero walk, the honor walk encourages hospital caregivers to form a procession as an organ donor is transported.

“I felt called to create this memorial,” Housley said during the unveiling event. “Donors deserve a place of dignity, beauty and enduring gratitude.”

Mid-America Transplant Foundation gifted the funds for the memorial through Mercy Health Foundation Springfield and reminded attendees at last week’s unveiling that each organ donor can have a profound impact on countless other patients. Last year alone, 28 organ donors at Mercy Hospital Springfield gave the gift of life through 91 life-saving organ transplants. An additional 8,700 lives were healed through 116 tissue and cornea donors.

The mural features a video screen to recognize tissue and cornea donors, along with a treescape with three components, each representing a different group of organ donors. The butterflies honor children whose brief lives touched others while the leaves pay tribute to Mercy patients. The rocks at the bottom of the mural honor Mercy caregivers. “Each butterfly, leaf and rock carries a name and a date,” Housley said. “They’re an anchor of a memory – a reminder that behind every transplant is a family, a story and a legacy of generosity that cannot be measured.”

Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state healthcare system including 55 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 caregivers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2025 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medica