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Thursday, May 5, 2016

"Provident-Hospital"

In 1891,Provident  Hospital and training school opened.This was  the first  African American  controlled  hospital  in  America,and it on the south side of  Chicago.

The racially  exclusionary policies of Chicago  nursing  schools  had impelled  Daniel Hale Williams,a prominent  African American surgeon  to found  the institution.During the early years  the hospital  reflected  its founder  vision  of  an  interracial  enterprise.By 1915,Provident had become  a predominantly African  American  institution.It won  renown as a medical center,  graduating 118 women from twenty-four states through  its nursing  programs.


In 1929,Provident  became  the site  of a pioneering  experiment  in  African American  medical  education  and hospital  reform  when it  affiliated  with the  University  of  Chicago.That relationship ended  in 1944. Financial  problems  were an  issue  from the  beginning,mainly,due to  the poverty  of  most  of its patients  and Provident  struggled  to survive  as a business. In  August  1982,it  moved  into a new  modern facility,which did not  reverse the debt,and it was  closed  in September  1987.

The interest  in reopening  Provident  remained  a priority  for many.Community  groups  and others  tried  to raise  both funding  and political  support  to reopen  the hospital.These  efforts  were not  successful yet,the venerable  interest  of Cook County Hospital  in  Provident  led their  Cook County  Board of  Commissioners  to buy  the hospital  in 1991.This  matched up  with the  County's  Bureau of  of Health  Services'  plan to improve  medical  services  to residents  living  on the South  side of Chicago.After a  sizable  investment  in upgrading  the physical  plant,the Bureau  reopened  Provident  in  1993.


The Hospital's  traditional  medical  education  role  was reestablished  in 1994  through  and educational  relationship with  Loyola  University's  Strict  School  of Medicine.While no longer considered  an  African American-run  hospital,Provident  continues  to serve  the health  the health needs  of the community ,including  a variety of  health  outreach  effforts.






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