About Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital · Grand Rapids, Michigan
The chapel at Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital is an interfaith and meditation room located on the first floor of the Blodgett Hospital campus at 1840 Wealthy Street SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is one of several chapels operated by Corewell Health's Spiritual Care department and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to anyone — patients, families, visitors, and staff — seeking a quiet space for prayer, reflection, or meditation. Catholic sacramental care (Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and Communion) is coordinated through the Diocese of Grand Rapids and on-site priest chaplains, while Sabbath candles, Bibles, Qur'ans, rosaries, and communion are available upon request through the spiritual care team.
- Established
- 1916
- Diocese
- Diocese of Grand Rapids
Why belong here
The Blodgett Hospital chapel is not a parish but an always-open, interfaith sanctuary inside a busy medical center — useful to anyone who finds themselves at 1840 Wealthy Street SE for a visit, appointment, or admission and needs a quiet place to sit, pray, or simply be still. Catholic patients and visitors have direct sacramental support through Corewell Health Spiritual Care and the Diocese of Grand Rapids priest chaplain, and sacramental emergencies are routed to local parishes when needed. For neighbors, hospital staff, and those accompanying loved ones, it offers a calm, non-sectarian space equipped with candles, sacred texts, rosaries, and communion on request.
About the Chapel
The Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital chapel is an interfaith and meditation room open 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the first floor of the hospital at 1840 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is intended for prayer, quiet reflection, and meditation by patients, families, visitors, and staff of every (or no) faith tradition. The space is supported by Corewell Health's Spiritual Care department, whose chaplains serve people of all beliefs and none, and which stocks Sabbath candles, Bibles, Qur'ans, rosaries, and communion for those who request them.
Catholic Sacramental Care
Catholic sacramental ministry at Blodgett Hospital is coordinated through Corewell Health Spiritual Care in cooperation with the Diocese of Grand Rapids. A diocesan priest chaplain (most recently named publicly as Fr. John Bosco Ssekkomo) is available on weekdays for Catholic patients at the Spectrum/Corewell Grand Rapids hospitals (Butterworth and Blodgett). When a patient cannot be reached by their own pastor and an urgent sacramental need arises outside the chaplain's availability, the hospital works from a diocesan response list of surrounding parishes to arrange priestly ministry.
- Anointing of the Sick on request through Spiritual Care
- Confession arranged via the on-site priest chaplain
- Communion available on request
- Diocesan response list used for urgent needs outside chaplain hours
History of Blodgett Hospital
Blodgett Hospital traces its origins to 1846, when women from local churches formed the Female Union Charitable Association to care for the sick and destitute of Grand Rapids. After the Civil War the group founded the Grand Rapids Orphan Asylum (1857) and reorganized as the Union Benevolent Association (UBA) in 1873. The UBA opened a hospital and home at College Avenue and Lyon Street in 1886 and launched Grand Rapids' first school of nursing the same year.
- 1846 — Female Union Charitable Association founded
- 1857 — Grand Rapids Orphan Asylum founded
- 1873 — Reorganized as Union Benevolent Association (UBA)
- 1886 — Hospital opened at College and Lyon; nursing school launched Nov. 15, 1886
- 1912 — Plans for a new hospital unveiled
- 1914 — John W. and Minnie Cumnock Blodgett donate land and funds for a new 126-bed hospital
- 1916 — Blodgett Memorial Hospital dedicated at Wealthy St. and Plymouth Rd. in memory of Jane 'Jennie' Wood Blodgett
- 1997 — 150th-anniversary history published by Susan B. Lovell
- 2022 — Spectrum Health merges with Beaumont Health to form Corewell Health; facility rebranded as Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital
Spiritual Care Team & Chaplains
Pastoral and spiritual care at Blodgett is provided by Corewell Health chaplains trained to walk alongside people of every faith tradition and none. Staff chaplains assigned to the Blodgett campus have included Alexander Quick and Phil Wiechart, both board-certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains, with previous roles in ethics stewardship, Critical Incident Stress Management, and palliative care. Catholic sacramental care is supplied by a priest chaplain appointed through the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
- Board-certified chaplains serving patients, families, and staff
- Critical Incident Stress Management team participation
- Ethics stewardship
- Palliative care and pastoral counseling
- Diocesan priest chaplain for Catholic sacramental care
Visiting the Chapel
The chapel is open 24/7. Visitors and patients should ask their care team or the front desk for current visitor policies and the exact first-floor location; the campus map identifies the Interfaith & Meditation Room on Floor 1 of Area D. Sabbath candles, Bibles, Qur'ans, rosaries, and communion are available on request from the spiritual care team.
- Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- First floor, Area D, near the main lobby
- Multi-faith items available on request
- Ask any care team member for directions
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John Bosco Ssekkomo
Priest chaplain for the Spectrum Health / Corewell Health Grand Rapids hospitals (Butterworth and Blodgett), named by the Diocese of Grand Rapids as the on-site sacramental contact for Catholic patients.
- Rev. Joseph Pettit
Diocese of Grand Rapids priest (formerly a Passionist, ordained 1955) who ministered as a chaplain to Blodgett and Butterworth Hospitals and the Carmelite Monastery; also served as Diocesan Director of Communications and Tribunal Advocate; retired 2003; died July 22, 2011.