A elegant tables are set for the guests at the Jan. 13 OSF HealthCare Foundation’s Angel Ball fundraiser.

The OSF HealthCare Foundation holds the Angel Ball every five years, a black-tie fundraiser for a major initiative.

The 2018 event was focused on a new OSF Comprehensive Cancer Center to be built in Peoria on the campus of OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center.

Nearly 1,200 attendees and sponsors helped raise an Angel Ball record $5,254,675.

There are more than 10,000 new cancer diagnoses each year within central Illinois, 2,000 in Peoria alone. There are three main components of cancer care today – radiation therapy, chemo and immunotherapy, and surgery.  The OSF Comprehensive Cancer Center will bring these care deliveries together for people to receive expert care in Peoria.

Nearly 1,200 people attended the  OSF HealthCare Foundation Angel Ball on Jan. 13.  The event is held every five years to raise funds for a specific project.  This year it was for a new cancer center.

Included in the center will be Proton Beam Therapy, remarkable technology that will dramatically transform HOW cancer care is delivered and received.

What makes proton beam therapy unique is having the ability to deliver precise treatment without damaging healthy cells. It is considered the state-of-the-art cancer treatment available, with only 27 in the country.

The OSF center, once built, promises to put OSF HealthCare among the ranks of prestigious medical campuses able to provide the highest level of care with the best treatment close to home.

Guests share conversation at the OSF HealthCare Foundation Angel Ball on Jan. 13. (Photo by Neil Larimore & Beth McEnaney/ for OSF Healthcare)

“We have an opportunity to bring this excellent, world-class, and transformative care, to our friends, family and peers. God willing and with your help, we can do it,” said Sister Judith Ann Duvall, O.S.F., chairperson of the OSF HealthCare board in announcing the initiative. “Let’s bring life-saving diagnosis, treatment and research to central Illinois that brings us closer to the cure of cancer, always our ultimate goal.”

The Angel Ball served as a kick-off for the significant fund raising that will be required to make the OSF Comprehensive Cancer Center a reality.

—- Angel Ball raises $5.25 Million for new OSF cancer center —