History

A group of five Sisters and their leader, Mother M. Frances Krasse, journeyed to Bloomington, IL from Peoria by horse-drawn wagon in February 1880 to establish a hospital for the sick and the poor. The Sisters opened St. Joseph's Hospital which received its first patient on March 22, 1880.

In its early days, the hospital was truly a labor of love because times were hard and most patients could not afford to pay for the care they received. Faith, shrewd use of resources, and the continued generosity and gratitude of the people of Bloomington and surrounding communities have kept the doors open, through good times and bad, across parts of three different centuries.

Sister M. Augustine Krasse was first superior for St. Joseph's Hospital when she arrived in 1880 with two companions, Sister M. Clara O'Connor and Sister M. Joseph Welsh. Together these pioneer sisters started the first Mission, to serve with the greatest care and love.

The Sisters purchased a little more than five acres of land with a two-story brick mansion on Jackson Street in west Bloomington. Nearly 88 years later, the medical center opened at its present location on East Washington Street.

The street addresses, the physical location, and the name of the hospital have all changed over the years, but the original mission - to serve with the greatest care and love - still guides those who continue the good work the Sisters began in 1880.

Nearly 130 years later, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center has evolved into a comprehensive medical center and is part of OSF HealthCare System, founded and operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.

OSF St. Joseph Medical Center has pioneered many medical advancements to benefit central Illinois residents. Those advancements include the area's first successful birth by cesarean section, nuclear medicine, hospital laser surgery, coil embolization, and anterior hip surgery. In 1990, OSF St. Joseph was the first hospital in McLean County to offer open heart surgery. To read more about our "Central Illinois Firsts," click here.