A renovation recognition program was held at the Troy Regional Medical Center Chapel Thursday morning and the chapel was filled to capacity with members of the hospital staff and visitors.

In welcoming the large gathering, Chaplain Ed Shirley said a hospital’s chapel serves as a place of inspiration, a place where people go to seek the comfort and help of the Great Physician.

The recently completed renovation of the chapel was designed to make the TRMC’s chapel an even more inviting place for prayer and for solace, Shirley said.

Chaplain Melissa Mahone said while most rooms in a hospital are treatment rooms, the chapel provides a place of refuge for those seeking comfort and provides a light to keep them going.

Troy Regional Medical Center CEO Ronnie Dean said a chapel is a sacred place.

“It’s a quiet place where people from all walks of can come seeking answers, and looking for guidance,” he said. “A chapel is a place were people can come to be replenished and refreshed. It is a place of solace.”

Dean said the renovation of the TRMC Chapel was a community effort, spearheaded by the hospital’s chaplains.

“Not all hospitals have an organized chaplain program and we are very fortunate to have a group of dedicated chaplains at Troy Regional Medical Center,” he said.  “We are also fortunate to have members of the community who donated so generously to the renovation project.”

Dean recognized Scott, Lana and Rebecca Hartley of Town and County Flooring, members of the Troy University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Townsend Building Supply and Trojan Upholstery. He thanked them for their contributions to the renovation of the TRMC Chapel.

The Hartleys donated the new flooring for the chapel. Townsend Building Supply donated the paint and supplies. Rebecca Hartley and other SAAC members did all of the painting. Trojan Upholstery provided the materials and labor for the re-upholstery of the furniture. Scott Hartley said the chapel is a small room so the financial contributions were not that large but they all came from the heart. Hartley has, personally, found the chapel a place of inspiration and comfort and expressed appreciation to the hospital for providing a place of solace for patients, families, friends and hospital staff.

“A chapel is a place of comfort, a place for prayer and a place where we can be close to God,” Shirley said. “The chapel at Troy Regional Medical Center is now a more inviting place. This chapel will be a blessed place of encouragement and a place of spiritual comfort where the hospital staff and visitors can find hope to move forward in faith.”