An architect's drawing of the $24 million, 53,000 square foot medical office building expected to be completed on the campus of OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington by August of 2019. (Provided photo)

BLOOMINGTON — With prayers for the safety of construction workers and excitement for improvements it will bring to health care in the region, groundbreaking ceremonies took place Aug. 29 for a $24 million medical office building to be built on the campus of OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center here.

“This is God’s work,” said Sister Judith Ann Duvall, OSF, chairperson of the boards for OSF HealthCare, before she and several other dignitaries donned hardhats and grabbed golden shovels to turn the first mounds of earth at the construction site, located at 210 St. Joseph Drive.

Sister Judith Ann Duvall, OSF, and other dignitaries take part in the Aug. 29 groundbreaking ceremonies. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

Sister Judith Ann noted that The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and their mission partners have served “on this soil in Bloomington” for 138 of the 141 years of their health care mission.

“Every time we touch a life for good we’re doing that for Christ himself. What greater joy in life can you have than that?” asked Sister Judith Ann, adding “we want this project to give God praise.”

The three-story, 53,000 square foot building will be home to primary care providers, an OSF PromptCare, Infusion Clinic, occupational health services, and the OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute.

SYMBOLIZES HEALTH CARE TRANSITION

“It’s going be a serene, beautiful facility that will complement the excellent care we deliver to each person we serve,” said Lynn Fulton, president of OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center. The new facility also symbolizes a transformation under way in health care, she added.

Lynn Fulton

“Health care is moving out of the hospital and into the home and into the medical office building, and this is a reflection of that,” she told about 100 people gathered beneath a tent on the construction site.

Chad Boore, chief executive officer for OSF HealthCare’s Eastern Region, noted the transformation is also evident in OSF’s recent opening of a new medical office building with a PromptCare on Bradford Lane in Normal.

“It’s more about outpatient space, meeting patients where they are, and frankly trying to keep them out of the hospital when possible,” said Boore.

Also sharing their excitement about the new building were Dr. Yogesh Agarwal, lead physician of the Eastern Region OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute, and Dr. Richard Ginnetti, director of physician practice for OSF HealthCare Medical Group, Eastern Region.

Father Rogers Byambaasa, chaplain of OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, blesses the construction site of the new $24 million medical office building during ceremonies on Aug. 29. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

The roar of an arriving OSF Life Flight helicopter at a nearby landing pad nearly drowned out the ceremony’s opening prayer by Father Rogers Byambaasa, chaplain at the medical center.

“We pray that God will bring this construction to a successful completion and that his protection will keep those working on it safe from injury,” said Father Byambaasa before sprinkling holy water on the construction site.

Before her remarks, Sister Judith Ann led the group in a prayer for the incoming patient and the helicopter pilot, calling the Life Flight ministry “truly angels of mercy.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: More photos from the groundbreaking ceremony have been posted to The Catholic Post’s site on Facebook.