The History of OSF HealthCare

The Beginning

October 28, 1876: Six Sisters arrived from Iowa City to start a hospital in a rented three-story house at 708 S. Adams St., Peoria, Illinois.

July 16, 1877: Sister M. Frances Krasse was elected the first Mother General of the newly formed order, The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.

1877: With the help of Bishop John L. Spalding, the Sisters’ acquired the Underhill Mansion, located at 248 Bluff St.

1878: Bishop John Lancaster Spalding blessed and dedicated the new St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

Late 1800s

1880: At the request of Bishop John Lancaster Spalding, the Sisters established St. Joseph’s Hospital located at Morris Avenue and South Water Streets in Bloomington, Illinois.

1884: Sisters arrived in Escanaba, Michigan, to provide nursing duties at Delta County Hospital.

October 28, 1885: The Mission of OSF was taken from the last words of Mother M. Frances Krasse. With her Sisters gathered around she said, “Dear Sisters, keep yourselves in strict accord and obedience. Nurse the sick with the greatest care and love, then God’s blessing be with you.”

1886: Sister M. Thecla Mersch, O.S.F., was elected the second Mother Superior of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in the presence of Bishop John L. Spalding.

1899: St. Anthony’s Hospital was opened at the corner of East State and Summit Street in Rockford, Illinois.

1889: The Sisters operated six hospitals in three states.

1891: Sister M. Barbara Markford, O.S.F., was elected the third Mother Superior.

1897: Sister M. Clara Connor, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1900s

1900: Sister M. Thecla Mersch, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior. This was her second non-consecutive term.

1905: St. Francis Hospital Training Schoo,l now known as OSF Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing, was established.

1906: Sister M. Antonia Ruppenkamp, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1907: Seven Sisters arrived in Pontiac, Illinois, to start St. James Hospital located on East Water Street.

1908: St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bloomington was the first hospital in the U.S. to use nitrous oxide gas, commonly known as laughing gas.

1909: St. Mary’s Hospital opened at 239 Cherry St. in Galesburg, Illinois.

1910s

1912: Sister M. Lucy Tillmann, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1914: The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis purchased the Delta County Hospital in Escanaba, Michigan, for $8,000 and renamed the facility St. Francis Hospital.

1915: Saint Anthony’s Nurses Training School in Rockford, now known as Saint Anthony College of Nursing was established.

1918: Sister M. Antonia Ruppenkamp, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior for her second non-consecutive term.

1920s

1923: The first international clinical meeting of the American Association for the Study of Goiter, now known as the American Thyroid Association, was held at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bloomington.

1923: St. Joseph’s Hospital was the first facility in downstate Illinois to hold clinics demonstrating ethylene gas.

1924: Sister M. Ottilia Overwaul, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1927: The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis celebrated 50 years of serving with the greatest care and love.

1929: The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis consisted of 358 Sisters, four schools of nursing and 10 hospitals located across Illinois, Iowa and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

1930s

1930s: The Sisters provided food for the hungry outside of their hospital kitchens.

1930: Sister M. Cunegunda Haber, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1930: Bishop Schlarman dedicated the new St. Francis Convent located next to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria. The building provided accommodation for 400 Sisters.

1931: The St. Francis Hospital School of Anesthesia was established with Sister M. Borromea Suplicka, O.S.F., as superintendent.

1936: Sister M. Alphonsa Schroeder, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1936: The community had grown to 365 professed Sisters, 12 hospitals across Illinois, Iowa, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and South Carolina and four nursing schools.

1940s

1940s: During the post-war years, the Sisters regularly sent packages of food to families in Germany. Later it was learned that many persons would have died without the generous gifts from the Sisters.

1942: The Premature Station, better known as the “Doll house" was established at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

1943: St. Francis Community Clinic in Peoria was established to care for those that could not afford a personal physician.

1945: Saint Anthony Hospital in Rockford, Illinois, created a separate ward to treat handicapped children.

1946: St. Francis Hospital in Peoria became the first hospital in the state and third in the nation to be equipped with an oxygen supply system that supplied oxygen to every room in the hospital.

1946: The first field test for a mobile polio unit containing an iron lung was given at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

1947: A group from the Southern Educational Film Service filmed “The Starting Line” documentary about premature infant care featuring the Premature Station at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

1948: Sister M. Liliosa Wiesner, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1950s

1950: The newly completed Forest Park Home on the campus of St. Francis Hopsital in Peoria was blessed. The facility was created to care for chronically ill patients.

1954: Bishop Cousins blessed the new St. Francis Children’s Hospital in Peoria.

1954: The St. Francis Community Clinic moved to the ground floor of the newly built Children’s Hospital building.

1954: Sister M. Liliosa Wiesner, O.S.F., was reelected Mother Superior.

1957: The Sisters established one of the first not-for-profit hospital groups purchasing initiatives in the nation.

1958: The Central Administrative Office was located at 700 NE Glen Oak Ave. in Peoria.

1959: The Sisters adopted a centralized data processing system to help manage the 11 hospitals and the large construction projects.

1960s

1960: Sister M. Pieta Laufer, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1963: Bishop Loras T. Lane blessed and dedicated the new, $4.8 million, 200-bed St. Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford.

1963: The Sisters expanded the group purchasing program to include affiliated hospitals, representing 90 facilities in seven states.

1966: The Sisters innovated health care communications by establishing the first shared hospital information system in the nation.

1966: Sister M. Pieta Laufer, O.S.F., was reelected Mother Superior.

1967: A Journal Star helicopter was used to transport a premature baby to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

1967: A helicopter delivered blood to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford from donors in Chicago. The blood arrived less than one hour after being donated to a patient that had undergone surgery.

1968: The new, $7.5 million St. Joseph’s Hospital located on East Washington Street in Bloomington, Illinois, was blessed and dedicated.

1969: Bishop John B. Franz dedicated and blessed the new General Office Building located at 1124 N. Berkeley Ave.

1970s

1970: The only cancer treatment center in McLean County opened at. St. Joseph’s Hospital.

1972: Sister Frances Marie Masching, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1974: Bishop O’Rourke blessed and dedicated the newly completed $6.9 million St. Mary’s Hospital located on Seminary Street and U.S. 34 in Galesburg.

1977: The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis celebrated 100 years of serving with the greatest care and love.

1977: The CBS television network filmed a 15-minute mini-documentary on St. Francis’ Emergency Medical Services. The documentary aired in 1978 on the CBS program “Magazine.”

1978: Sister Frances Marie Masching, O.S.F., was reelected Mother Superior.

1980s

1981: The new Lifeline emergency helicopter service and hangar was dedicated at Saint Anthony Hospital in Rockford. It was the first facility on hospital grounds for the state of Illinois helicopter.

1982: Sister Mary John Harvey, O.S.F., was elected Mother Superior.

1983: Saint Francis Medical Center established a home health care program.

1983: Saint Francis Medical Center invested $1.8 million in a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance unit, only the third hospital in Illinois to be approved to use the technology.

1984: The Life Flight program was established.

1986: St. Francis, Inc., was created in response to the changing health care environment and tax/regulation requirements.

1986: The new, $19 million St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba, Michigan, and located at U.S. Hwy 2 and 41, was blessed.

1986: The 235,000-square-foot Gerlach addition of Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria was blessed.

1988: Sister Mary John Harvey, O.S.F., was reelected Mother Superior.

1989: The new, four-story Corporate Office at 800 NE Glen Oak Ave. in Peoria, was dedicated on the 112th anniversary of the Sisters’ founding.

1989: OSF HealthCare Foundation, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, was created to promote, encourage and solicit as well as receive funds to support the functions of OSF.

1989: A special Mass was held to celebrate the amalgamation of The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Third Order of St. Francis from Rock Island, Illinois, with The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.

1989: A hospice program began at St. James Hospital.

1990s

1990: A news conference was held to announce the formation of the Children’s Hospital of Illinois  within Saint Francis Medical Center, bringing together all services and programs designed specifically for children.

1991: Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford established a parish nurse program, the only such program in the nation funded by a hospital and located in a disadvantaged area.

1992: The OSF Vision statement was adopted. “In the tradition of the Third Order of St. Francis, recognizing that life is a gift from God to be enjoyed to its fullest. We serve as an instrument for good in a patient-focused integrated health care system.”

1994: OSF Medical Group was formed to offer ambulatory services and a network of primary and specialty care providers and practices.

1994: Sister Mary Ellen Flannery, O.S.F., was elected Superior.

1995: The letters “OSF” were added to create system identity for the nine health care facilities and affiliations owned by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.

1995: A $4.5 million five-year agreement with Ameritech was created to link all hospitals. OSF facilities were among the first in the nation to use frame relay, an advanced computer network.

1996: The Above and Beyond Mission Partner giving campaign began.

1997: The OSF Stroke Network formed.

1998: The Mother Frances Krasse Family Health Center, located on the south side of Peoria, was blessed.

1998: The new, 38,900-square-foot system lab was blessed in Peoria.

2000s

2000: OSF St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba, Michigan, became one of the first hospitals in the state to use Biospectral Index Monitors (BIS) during surgical procedures.

2000: Sister Mary Ellen Flannery, O.S.F., was reelected Superior.

2000: The documentary titled “Who Are the Sisters” aired on WTVP 47. The film focused on the Sister’s lives, business, service to God and community.

2001: All facility-based home health and hospice services were combined into a new operating division named OSF Home Care Services.

2002: OSF Aviation, LLC, incorporated to provide helicopters to OSFS Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria for its emergency services program.

2002: The new, $34 million OSF Saint James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center located at 2500 W. Reynolds St. in Pontiac was blessed.

2003: The OSF Lifeline Ambulance, LLC was incorporated.

2006: Sister Judith Ann Duvall, O.S.F., was elected Superior.

2007: Community Medical Center in Monmouth, Illinois, became OSF Holy Family Medical Center.

2008: The integration of physician groups began with three new corporations established: OSF Multispecialty Group-Peoria, LLC; Illinois Neurological Institute-Physicians, LLC; and HeartCare Midwest, Ltd.

2010s

2010: The new Milestone Building at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, the largest construction project in Peoria’s history, was blessed and dedicated.

2012: Ottawa Regional Hospital in Ottawa, Illinois, was renamed OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center.

2012: A state-of-the-art eICU program called OSF ConstantCare was implemented for the purpose of saving lives and decreasing the length of ICU stays.

2012: The newly built OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home was blessed by Bishop Jenky.

2012: Sister Judith Ann Duvall, O.S.F., was elected Superior for her second term.

2013: Bishop Jenky blessed and dedicated the new, $51 million OSF Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center, on the campus of OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

2014: Kewanee Hospital in Kewanee, Illinois, became OSF Saint Luke Medical Center.

2014: Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton, Illinois, joined OSF.

2015: Mendota Community Hospital in Mendota, Illinois, became OSF Saint Paul Medical Center. 

2015: OSF OnCall offered 24/7 online access to virtual medical care via the Internet or phone.

2016: HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital reopened as an outpatient facility called OSF Center for Health – Streator.

2016: OSF Ventures, a health care system investment program, was established.

2017: The new OSF Franciscan Prairie Building located at 5901 W. War Memorial Drive in Peoria was blessed.

2018: OSF became the first health care system in the U.S. to offer free digital mental health services to individuals in all the communities they serve.

2018: Presence United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville, Illinois, became OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center.

2018: Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Illinois, became OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center. Today, it's known as OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center - Urbana.

2018: OSF Urgo, a new type of urgent care clinic, was introduced. It later became known as OSF OnCall Urgent Care.

2018: Almost Home Kids at OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria started accepting patients.

2018: Sister Judith Ann Duvall, O.S.F., was elected Superior for a third term.

2019: Pointcore was established by a partnership between OSF HealthCare and CORE Construction.

2019: Clare, the OSF HealthCare virtual assistant chatbot, was launched.

2020s

2020: Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, Illinois, became OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center.

2021: Perry Memorial Hospital became OSF HealthCare Saint Clare Medical Center in Princeton, Illinois.

2021: The OSF OnCall building in downtown Peoria was blessed.

2022: OSF HealthCare St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg opened a new helicopter hangar, giving that region aviation transportation 24/7.

2022: Bishop Tylka blessed the new Ministry Headquarters Building located on Adams Street in Peoria, just blocks from where the Sisters founded their first hospital.

2022: An ambulance filled with medical supplies was blessed before it was sent to Ukraine.

2022: A blessing and open house were held for the OSF HealthCare Transitional Care Hospital, later renamed OSF HealthCare Divine Mercy Continuing Care Hospital.

2022: A 101-ton particle accelerator arrived at the OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute construction site. The device was built in Germany, shipped to Maryland and transported by two 210-foot-long tractor trailers to Peoria. The proton beam was the second such machine in Illinois.

2023: OSF participated in the PCORI Health Systems Implementation Initiative (HSII). The program included 42 health systems nationwide to accelerate research results in clinical care settings.

2023: OSF HealthCare and Illinois State University signed a Connected Communities Initiative agreement. The purpose of the program was to bring together clinicians, university faculty researchers and students to focus on innovations in clinical settings, patient engineering, data science and cybersecurity.

2023: Pointcore, Inc. acquired Letter Perfect, a company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and formed a new company called Pointcore Graphic Solutions.

2023: The OSF Breakthrough Treatment Center at OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute with Origin, was established to provide novel therapies, clinical trials and the most promising medical treatments for cancer.

2023: OSF HealthCare and US HealthVest partnered to create a new, 64,000-square-foot inpatient treatment center called Meadowview Behavioral Hospital.

2024: Bishop Tylka blessed the new OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute.

2024: St. Margaret’s Hospital in Peru, Illinois, became OSF HealthCare Saint Elizabeth Medical Center – Peru.

2024: OSF PACE, an all-inclusive elderly care program was established as one of the first in Illinois.

2024: The Sister Diane Marie Gynecologic Cancer Research Fund within the OSF Breakthrough Treatment Center was established.

2024: Sister Agnes Joseph Williams, O.S.F., was elected Superior.

2024: An open house at the Peoria hangar was held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Life Flight.

2025: OSF HealthCare Saint Katharine Medical Center in Dixon, Illinois, was blessed.

2025: OSF Medical Group launched the first medical assistant trainee program in Peoria to address the shortage of CMA staffing.

2025: OSF HealthCare was awarded $2 million from Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study strategies for managing hypertension.

2025: OSF OnCall launched a Virtual Labor and Delivery Monitoring Program to all OSF facilities with birthing units.

2025: OSF HealthCare, University of Illinois and Tata Elxsi partnered to transform rural health care with localized digital health kiosks.

2026: Meadowview Behavioral Hospital in Peoria is blessed and opened.

2027: The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and OSF HealthCare celebrate 150 years of serving with the greatest care and love.