Photo Caption: A new sign on Norris Drive welcomes visitors to OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa. The former Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center has joined the OSF Healthcare System.

By: By Tom Dermody

OTTAWA — Called “a match made in heaven,” Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center joined the OSF Healthcare System and was renamed OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center during dedication and blessing ceremonies on May 1.

“God brought our two wonderful organizations together into one family for His own very special reasons,” said Sister Judith Ann Duvall, OSF, chairperson of the board of OSF Healthcare System.

“He has plans for how He wants His people, who call Ottawa and the surrounding communities their home, to be cared for,” she said, speaking on a stage with other dignitaries beneath a tent on the medical center grounds. “He knew we could accomplish that even better together.”

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, presided at the blessing ceremonies and noted that the sick “are a special reflection of Christ himself.”

“Make this place a house of blessing and a center of love,” he prayed, before leading about a dozen area clergy into the several facilities on the center’s Norris Avenue campus to sprinkle rooms with holy water while nature supplied a shower of its own outside.

Bishop Jenky was joined in blessing the center’s lobby and its adjoining new chapel by Robert Chaffin, chief executive officer and president of OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center. Other priests — including Msgr. Philip Halfacre, vicar of the Ottawa vicariate — were accompanied by OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical officers and directors.

Chaffin, who is nearing his 23rd anniversary at the medical center, called the day “an important milestone.”

“Our hospital has a rich legacy,” he told the crowd of employees and guests beneath the tent, tracing the changes since it was founded as John Stuart Ryburn Memorial Hospital in 1895. “We are proud of our past and we look forward to embarking on a new journey as OSF Saint Elizabeth.”

Kevin Schoeplein, chief executive officer of OSF Healthcare System, said that the patients and the community “were always the center of our discussions and decisions” during the 15-month study that led to the change in ownership, which was approved by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board on April 17. Schoeplein called it “a coming together of two like-minded organizations.”

He said OSF Saint Elizabeth is “founded on a core belief that by coming together we can achieve extraordinary results.”

Outlining the practical advantages of that coming together were Dr. Brian Rosborough, vice president of medical affairs for Ottawa Regional Medical Center, and Steven Gonzaolo, vice-chairperson of the board of OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center.

“Today, we celebrate the beginning of OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center,” said Dr. Rosborough. “Tomorrow, we get back to work, always focusing on the OSF mission to serve with the greatest care and love.”

Sister Judith Ann thanked all who helped make the day possible, including the boards of the former Ottawa Regional Hospital and Healthcare Center and OSF Healthcare System, and the integration management office.

She had special words of welcome for all who work in the medical center.

“Our Sisters pray for all of our OSF Family members who share this sacred ministry with us every day, and now that includes all of you. We thank God for you and we will treasure you in our hearts.”

Providing music for the ceremonies were the OSF Singers under the direction of John Evancho and Msgr. Halfacre offered prayer intercessions. Dr. Jeffrey Crowhurst, OSF Saint Elizabeth medical staff president, gave a Scripture reading, while Karen Brodbeck, director of marketing and community relations, led those gathered in responses to Psalm 145.