If you've driven past OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in the past couple of months, you've probably noticed a lot of construction.
OSF is in the process of building a $237 million Cancer Institute that will eventually bring proton beam radiation therapy to downstate Illinois for the first time. And this weekend, the public is invited to sign their name into history.
Through Sunday, you can stop by OSF to add your name to a steel beam. Next week, the beam will be placed atop the structure that will serve as the foundation of the new center.
OSF President Bob Anderson said the beam is a powerful symbol.
"We've invited people ... to come and sign and be part of that history," he said. "This beam will be put into place next week, and will be very visible throughout the remainder of the construction."
OSF Breaks Ground On New $237 Million Cancer Institute
OSF was founded in downtown Peoria by Catholic nuns. Today, sisters work at OSF in a variety of capacities.
Originally from Escanaba, Mich., Sister Theresa Ann Brazeau spent most of her 40-plus-year career in Rockford before moving to OSF's headquarters in Peoria.
As she signed the beam on Thursday, she said she thought about the patients she's treated over the years — and all those who will soon benefit from the new Cancer Institute.
"The center will provide the care that we want for the people we serve in this community," she said. "Help them ... get in at a time that's not long ... In cancer care, you need to get in faster, and get in quicker. ... and to not have to travel."
Dr. James McGee, OSF director of oncology, said the steel beam signing is one of many milestones in the months ahead.
He hopes the public will return to OSF in July to watch the unveiling of the cyclotron — the technology that enables highly targeted proton beam radiation therapy — when it arrives from Germany.
The cyclotron already has a tentative name: Marie, in honor of longtime OSF leader Sister Frances Marie Masching, who died in 2000.
"(She) was really responsible for starting radiation therapy here at Saint Francis and for engendering a radiation oncology atmosphere at many of the centers around the ministries," he said, adding the name also is a nod to famed physicist and researcher Marie Curie.
The new Cancer Institute is expected to open in early 2024.
Those who wish to sign the beam this weekend can find it inside a white tent near 530 NE Glen Oak Ave., across the street from the chapel located at 420-504 NE Glen Oak Ave.
