LAYTON—A hospital can be an emotional place for both patients and their families as well as the staff who work through hard things daily. Sometimes just a moment of respite to worship and reset can give that extra boost needed to get through the day. Holy Cross Hospital – Davis now provides that space with the dedication of a new chapel.

“There are four other hospitals in Utah that were acquired in 2023 by CommonSpirit,” said Kyle Brostrom, Davis Hospital president. “It’s a national faith-based system. Having a chapel is a requirement as part of their mission.”

This chapel has been a long time coming, he said. “We had to find some space here at Holy Cross Hospital – Davis. It took a little bit of time to clear that space. The location of the chapel was actually our former gift shop.”

It’s right at the front of the hospital, said Brostrom. “So we had to do a little bit of transformation. It looks great now. It doesn’t look like a gift shop. It’s really important that we’re able to offer a location that serves that spiritual component of well-being.”

That’s part of the mission of CommonSpirit health, he said. “We take care of broken bones, heart attacks and strokes and everything else but the healing process is multifaceted and part of that healing includes the body but also the mind and the spirit. So being able to have that available for the patients, staff and visitors is an important part of the health care we provide.”

It’s definitely something the patients wanted, Brostrom said. “There was a lot of excitement around having a place to meditate or whatever so it’s been building for a long time. We did our first Mass over the lunch break. I think everyone is really excited to have that component here as part of the hospital. Just a sacred space for any religion you don’t have to be Catholic. You can be any religion or no religion at all. It’s a place that’s kind of dedicated for spiritual wellness and contemplation.”

Brostrom said the hospital has a chaplain. “Father Gregory splits his time between this hospital and Holy Cross – Salt Lake. Now that we have a dedicated chapel he will conduct Mass every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 12:05 p.m.”

The chapel is open 24/7, he said. “It’s just meant to be a space for families or staff or whoever to take a break and find a quiet moment to fill their cup.”

“My role is ensuring that we as a health system adhere to and are actively living out our call and abiding values as a faith-based Catholic health care institution,” said Market Director of Mission Integration, Peter Gallagher. “I oversee anything to do with relation to our faith-based Catholic identity. Chapel dedications would fall under that.”

There are five hospitals here and they have deep roots, he said. “Their inception was 150 years ago. They were originally founded by Catholic sisters who came over here in 1875. So in some ways the roots are sort of the legacy of these hospitals that were established a long time ago.”

It’s a place for spiritual renewal for people at the hospital, said Gallagher. “Faith-based health care is the overall notion of what we call whole person care and that's in addition to caring for people’s bodies as we do at the hospital.”

It’s also imperative to care for their well-being and their spirits, he said. “That’s what we try to live out through a variety of means like focusing on the whole person and I think having a dedicated chapel space is one key part of that.”