Doctor from Chicago Heights Gets Married in a Hospital

Chicago Heights native Dr. Taryn Bragg loves her job. In fact, she loves it so much, she decided to have her wedding there.

Bragg, who is a pediatric neurosurgeon at American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, said work was the perfect place to marry her fiance Josh Bowland, an attorney, July 9. 

"This is my way of giving back to the people I work for and the patients that I have treated," said Bragg, who is also an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "We wanted to do something fun for the children and have them share in our celebration."

Bragg and her new husband invited 100 people to the ceremony and reception, including family members, colleagues and patients and their families. The wedding ceremony – the hospital's first – was held the lobby.

Children who could not make it to the reception, got visits from the newly weds in their rooms and were given goody bags, according to the hospital's public affairs representative Mike Klawitter. 

Bragg and Bowland paid for all of the expenses and, instead of gifts, asked anyone attending to donate money to the children's hospital via a designated Website.

Bragg first saw Bowland's photo online. The two had coffee together and have been a couple ever since, she told the Wisconsin State Journal. Bragg and Bowland also share a birthday, Aug. 16, 1974.