Hospital History (Illinois and Wisconsin)
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital can trace its beginnings to the 19th century. Founded in 1897 by Norwegians who had settled on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Lutheran General Health System (LGHS) originally was known as the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital. It carried on a broad community program of social work and care for court-adjudicated youths, as well as operating a hospital and a training school for nurses and deaconesses. In 1904, the organization came under the control of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, which later evolved into the Evangelical Lutheran Church, The American Lutheran Church, and now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The greatest period of growth for LGHS began in 1959 when Lutheran General Hospital was opened in Park Ridge, Illinois. At the same time, the Lutheran Institute of Human Ecology was formed to establish ministries in alcoholism and substance abuse, senior services, parish nursing, bio-ethics and medical education. LGHS grew into a vertically integrated service organization committed to providing a continuum of health care for its communities.
Building contract between Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital of Chicago and WM. E. Schweitzer, 1958 March
Architect contract/estimate, 1958 April
Certificate of General Not For Profit Corporation Act for Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital of Chicago, 1958 June
Aerial View of Site for Lutheran General Hospital, 1958
Skokie Valley Post 3854 & Auxiliary Veterans Of Foreign Wars Present $6,600 To Lutheran Hospital, 1958 January
Morton Grove Legion Gives Hospital $9,000, 1958 February
New Hospital Breaks Ground, 1958 April
Lutheran General Hospital To Be Most Fully Equipped, 1958 April
Begin Building $5,000,000 Hospital Here, 1958 April
Work Begins on Lutheran Hospital, 1958 April
Northwest Area Lutheran General Hospital, 1958 April
Start of Construction for Lutheran General Hospital, 1958