After years of planning and fundraising, leaders at OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington invited community members to experience their new patient and family-centered chapel.
The new chapel, which was blessed and unveiled on Thursday, is just off the hospital’s main entrance on St. Joseph Drive. The chapel is open daily to people of all faith traditions, even though it is rooted in Catholic worship.
The project cost nearly $2.4 million and was funded largely through private donations from former patients, the community, and OSF employees.
“We are truly honored to have had the opportunity to support the Chapel Fund back in 2019 financially. For us, it was more than a gift—it was something deeply personal,” said Trish Kallembach. Trish and Larry Kallembach were pioneers of the chapel fundraising.
OSF St. Joseph President Eunmee Shim said she hopes to ensure a welcoming space for all OSF patients.
“It's 24/7 accessible. That's one way. And we welcome any faith to come and practice their faith here. I know that you know, from their theological, doctrinal perspective, there may be a difference, but I'm hoping that people will come and find the peace and find the love that we have,” said Shim.
Shim explained the space is not just for patients but for their families and staff members as well.
“We do have staff participating in the daily Mass here. They will not only come during the Mass, but also when they need a little bit of quiet time. I think they will be coming here just to be away from the noise and activities, but also to find peace and calm when they need it,” said Shim.
The chapel was designed with care and includes suggestions from many members of the OSF community, according to Shim.
“People were very passionate about what was going to be here. They also wanted to make sure that every article was the best quality that you can find,” said Shim.
Trish Kallembach recognized all the people who added their talent and their considerable time towards this project.
“We're happy to be leaders in this project and give it the consideration that others would follow and add to this project, because it takes a lot of time, talent, and treasure to make something like this happen, and we were happy, delighted to add treasure to it.”
Roman Catholic Masses are held Wednesday through Sunday at 11 a.m. in the chapel.
