
Mural to commemorate parents and newborns
There’s no greater thrill than leaving a hospital and going home with a newborn baby. Holly Fitzwater, a nurse at UCHealth Memorial Hospital North, and her coworkers took an extra step to help new families commemorate the memorable moment.
Fitzwater worked with Sam Wehlage, clinical nurse manager, and Emily Winn, associate nurse manager, to create a spot where families can pause, take a photo, and cherish the moment they took their bundle of joy home.
Patients leaving the mom-baby unit previously got off an elevator to face a blank wall. Fitzwater thought the blank canvas would be an ideal location to celebrate patients.
An idea was born, and it took on a life of its own.
Fitzwater, Wehlage and Winn shared their vision with UCHealth’s marketing team. They worked together on different iterations of the design, collaborating with nurses on their unit to ensure all would be proud of the effort.
In celebration of being born in Colorado, the teams chose a mountainesque landscape with softer colors for the design with the words: “Off we go!’’ on the design.
“Our whole team picked this one,” said Wehlage. “I think that was really cool and special for everybody to feel like they had a little piece of it.”
When the estimate for a wall decal was too much, Wehlage shared another idea. “How fun would it be if we painted it?”
Armed with a mockup of the design, Wehlage went to a paint store and painstakingly color matched all the brand-approved colors in the final design.
“There was a lot of collaboration, not only with the graphic designer, the marketing team, but the facilities team, to be able to do what we needed to do,” said Wehlage.
Facilities prepped the wall for paint and adjusted lighting to allow the trio to use a projector to stencil the design on the wall.
One weekend, Fitzwater, Wehlage and Winn came into work on their day off to complete the project. Over the span of two days, totaling roughly 16 hours, they painted the design and finished the mural.
“I think it’s a great addition to our unit,” said Wehlage. “Just that personal touch and especially to know that the three of us did it. I think that means more to our team than anything. And to see just the amazing things we can do.”
Wehlage credits Fitzwater for bringing this project to completion.
“I don’t think this would have happened without Holly,” said Wehlage. “In the sense of not only was it her idea, but she was persistent in following-up. Holly was just instrumental in seeing this through all the way.”
“It’s such a joy to work on mom-baby and to care for these patients and the little people that they bring into the world,” said Fitzwater. “This is something so sweet and, as you exit, take a picture.”
You Make Extraordinary Possible Together, we recognize and honor the qualities within ourselves by shining a spotlight on how each and every one of us improve lives in big ways and small.