A Proud Tradition of Service

Beginnings

SHC-Chicago (1938)

On the evening of February 25, 1925, a meeting was held in the offices of Medinah Temple in Chicago. There were nine Shriners "nobles" present, united in their commitment to build a children’s hospital at the intersection of Oak Park Avenue and Belden Avenue, on the Northwest Side of Chicago.

In short order, these nine men had erected a large sign, hired contractors, and posted construction bonds. On June 25, 1925, this building committee, along with the chairman of the Board of Trustees for Shriners Hospitals,  the potentate of Medinah Temple, the mayor of Chicago, and other noted guests, visited the hospital site to lay the cornerstone of the new building.

The red brick hospital was formally dedicated on March 20, 1926, and by November of that year the hospital had received 210 applications, had an active census of 60 and had already discharged 56 patients.

Many of the patients were children with polio or infections of the bone. Treatment for these children was often long-term, and patients frequently resided in the hospital for up to a year. Parents were invited to visit their children only for an hour or so on Sunday afternoons, and most parents lived at such distance from the hospital that they were unable to visit even weekly. "We were family-oriented in those days, but we were the family," according to Edward Millar, MD, emeritus chief of staff.

Years of Growth

Penicillin and improvements in anesthesia radically changed the direction of orthopaedic treatment and surgery over the next 50 years. Many conditions once requiring long stays could now be treated in much shorter timeframes or on an outpatient basis.

In 1976, Dr. Millar was hired as the hospital's first full-time chief surgeon. Increased demand for Shriners' specialized medical care prompted the formation of a committee to consider building a new facility, a "mini-medical center for orthopedic care." Construction finally began in 1979.

As the building reached completion in 1982, Shriners Hospitals for Children approved the funding of a Spinal Cord Injury Unit in Chicago, headed to this day by Lawrence C. Vogel, MD.

A Modern Pediatric Medical Center

SHC-Chicago today

Over the next 15 years, under the leadership of John P. Lubicky, MD, chief of staff, and A. James Spang, administrator, the hospital again experienced a surge in demand for our medical services. With the addition of a full craniofacial surgery program in 1998, the three surgical suites in the new hospital were operating at or near capacity.

By November 1999, when Shriners Hospital-Chicago approached the Illinois Health Planning Board for approval of a new $34 million addition, regulatory bodies were beginning to understand the strong commitment to children’s health and functionality provided by Shriners. "They never charge a patient and they have a great bottom line, and that’s something we have never seen before," according to Pam Taylor, the board’s chair for over 20 years. "They really do what a not-for-profit hospital should be doing."

Now, with construction complete, the hospital's bright, sunny facility provides 210,000 square feet of family-friendly treatment and play space. With new Chief of Staff, Peter A. Sturm, MD, and new Administrator, James A. Cohick, MBA, CHE, Shriners-Chicago stands poised to celebrate 80 great years of providing the best in medical care and research to the children of the Midwest.