Genesis Health System will eliminate 40 positions across the health care system, but will offer the affected employees equivalent jobs within the company. Those who turn down jobs will receive severance packages.

The hospital system is temporarily canceling salary increases for one year. Employees were notified this week.

As unemployment ravages Iowa and Illinois, hospital systems like Genesis are providing increasing care for individuals who can not pay for it.

Genesis Health System is a corporation based in Davenport, Iowa, that provides medical services to the Quad Cities and surrounding areas. Genesis Health System operates a main hospital with two campuses in the city of Davenport, satellite hospitals in the cities of Silvis, Illinois and DeWitt, Iowa, plus a number of clinics throughout the Quad Cities region.

The Quad Cities is a geographic region of the Mid-Mississippi Valley that includes communities in the states of Iowa and Illinois. The most populous cities in the region are Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, and Bettendorf.