SPRINGFIELD, Ill. —Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) was recently awarded a Healing Illinois grant to foster discussion between central Illinois community members and health care professionals around equity in health care.
Healing Illinois is an initiative led by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Field Foundation of Illinois. Statewide, 184 recipients will receive $4.5 million in funding for community-based activities to advance racial healing. In Central Illinois, this grant is awarded by the United Way of Central Illinois. Last month, HSHS announced that it also received a Healing Illinois grant to support a speaker series in Southern Illinois.
The HSHS grant project entitled, “Revealing and Embodying Racial Healing for All People: Healing Central Illinois,” will foster in-person dialog between community members and HSHS colleagues to advance racial healing. The Healing Illinois grant project in Central Illinois will remember the 1908 Springfield Race Riots and the role of the Hospital Sisters at St. John’s Hospital in offering care for all people regardless of race. Invited HSHS colleagues and community members will participate in two, day-long programs in the weeks leading up to Juneteenth. HSHS colleagues from HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield and its affiliated hospitals, including HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur, HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham, HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield and HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville, will be participating in this program.
“At the heart of the HSHS Mission is Christ’s healing love for all people,” said Angela Senander, HSHS system director of formation. “We seek to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love in each encounter we have with patients, family members, colleagues and community members.”
For more information about HSHS, visit hshs.org.
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About HSHS Illinois
HSHS Illinois’ mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high-quality Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS Illinois hospitals provide state-of-the-art health care to our patients and are dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable. HSHS Illinois includes St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese, St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur, St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham, Holy Family Hospital in Greenville, St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland, St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville and St. John’s Hospital Springfield. St. John’s College is also part of HSHS Illinois. For more information, visit www.hshs.org.