generate @ UnityPoint Health — 2025 Catalysts Honoree
Health Making in the Heartland
Why wait for someone else to invent it when you can create it yourself? That’s the mindset powering innovation at UnityPoint Health’s Generate lab at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids — and it’s turning frontline staff (and even patients) into problem-solvers and changemakers.
At the 2025 Catalysts Live event on July 17th, Rose Hedges, nursing research and innovation program manager at UnityPoint Health, took the stage to explain more.
When you invest in the creativity of those closest to the work, you can spark a movement — one that scales across a health system and across Iowa.
That was the message Rose Hedges, DNP, RN, nursing research and innovation program manager at UnityPoint Health, brought to the Catalysts stage.
At St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, this investment in creativity comes to life through the in-hospital makerspace lab called Generate — a space where health professionals can design and build their own solutions to the challenges they encounter in patient care.
The idea for the makerspace took shape about five years ago when Hedges recognized a simple truth: no one is better equipped to solve clinical challenges than the people delivering care. Rather than sending them elsewhere to search for tools or products, why not create a space where they can invent their own?
And so, Generate was born.
In just five years, more than 1,000 projects have been completed in the lab, resulting in nearly 6,500 devices created and used. Clinicians have used the space to craft personalized tools for patients, train colleagues, replace critical equipment, contribute to research on emerging health technologies, and more. Nearly 600 “makers” from 51 professions and 23 departments at St. Luke’s have utilized the lab.
One clinician shared, “The Generate Lab makes it feel like nothing is impossible for our patients.” Another noted, “It encourages continued growth and development, as well as thinking outside the box for patient care.”
And according to a 2024 user feedback survey, 96% of respondents said projects from the lab positively impact their daily work, and 89% said it supports their professional development goals.
The lab is stocked with everything from 3D printers and laser cutters to silicone, resin, and sewing machines — all materials to turn good ideas into tangible solutions.
One nurse, for example, came in to sew a custom headband designed to keep IV tube lines off one of her ICU patients’ foreheads, preventing them from flopping around.
Later, that same patient became a maker herself. During rehabilitation, she found it difficult to lay her baby safely in a crib. So, she collaborated with clinicians to create ankle weights for a baby doll, allowing her to build the strength needed to care for her own child.
“She was involved in her care uniquely,” Hedges said.
In another case, a patient injured in a ski accident was confined to a wheelchair and had limited mobility, but retained strong gross motor skills. With help from her occupational therapist, her clinician designed a modified keyboard so she could continue playing her favorite video games — a key piece of her mental and emotional well-being.
And then there’s Cody, a flight paramedic who wanted to better practice the SALAD technique, which is used to clear airways during vomiting. He built a mannequin that could simulate vomiting by repurposing an old drill as a pump.
“It started with, ‘How can I practice this skill better?’ and now it’s being shared across the state."
Because of the Generate lab, the culture at St. Luke’s has shifted.
“What used to be, ‘If only I had…’ has become, ‘Let’s go down to the makerspace and fix this.' We’re not a drop-off station. We’re going to help YOU make the solution.”
Located right next to the hospital’s coffee shop, the hub of daily activity, the lab is a vibrant part of the workplace culture. It plays a key role in employee engagement and retention, too.
The cost savings have been remarkable as well. One example? A broken button on a hospital bed control remote — a part no longer manufactured — would have cost $18,000 to replace if outsourced. In the lab, a fix was made for under 10 cents.
Because St. Luke’s has invested in its people and created a “sandbox” for innovation, the impact extends far beyond the hospital walls, benefiting patients, clinicians, and communities across Iowa.
As one paramedic put it:
“The Generate lab allows us to take the idea ‘Someone should make…’ and change it to ‘I can make…’ to improve workflows and reduce barriers to patients.”
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