EFFINGHAM, Ill. — On April 30, in honor of the 150th Anniversary of HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital serving the community, the hospital held an unveiling and blessing of the third and final mosaic artwork panel by Dr. Ruben Boyajian, artist and HSHS Medical Group general surgeon.

The artwork is inspired by the well-known “Canticle of the Sun” prayer written by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, some of whom were in attendance. The final panel concludes the artwork focusing on the St. Anthony’s Hospital 1949 fire, honoring the memory of the victims by incorporating their names in the artwork, and commemorates moving forward in faith afterwards to continue serving the community.

Following remarks by HSHS St. Anthony’s Manager of Philanthropy Michael Wall and Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Powers, as well as Dr. Boyajian, the artwork was blessed by the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.

Photos:

  • Photo #1: Dr. Ruben Boyajian (center with microphone) unveils his latest masterpiece in the HSHS St. Anthony’s Heritage Hallway as Hospital Sisters of St. Francis and HSHS St. Anthony’s Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Powers (right, standing) look on with other members of the public.
  • Photo #2: Dr. Ruben Boyajian with his wife, Emily. Dr. Boyajian credited his wife with her many hours of helping him complete the mosaic artwork, which features the names of those who passed in the 1949 St. Anthony Hospital fire as leaves on a tree.

###

About HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital
HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, Effingham, celebrating 150 years of serving the Effingham community, is part of Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), a nonprofit Catholic health care ministry founded in 1875. Dedicated to our Mission to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through high-quality Franciscan health care, HSHS clinicians provide exceptional care centered on the whole person. Based in Springfield, Illinois, HSHS employs nearly 11,000 colleagues who provide care in 13 acute-care, children’s and critical-access hospitals and home health and hospice programs in Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin. HSHS is aligned with more than 1,000 primary and specialty physicians and advanced practitioners through its owned affiliates HSHS Medical Group and Prairie Cardiovascular and its partnership with Prevea Health. For more information about HSHS, visit hshs.org.