Founded in 1919 as a 60-bed hospital to serve needy Eastern European Jewish immigrants and to train Jewish physicians denied educational opportunities elsewhere, Mount Sinai today serves a predominantly African-American and Latino community with vigor and dedication that have grown stronger through the years.
Sinai’s newly formed History Club is proud to share the historical information they have been gathering during the past few months of the 90th anniversary. We will update this page with additional historical information as we compile it.
History of Mount Sinai Hospital
(compiled by the Sinai History Club)
With the closure of Michael Reese Hospital on the city’s South Side, Mount Sinai is Chicago’s second Jewish hospital. It opened on the West Side in 1912 as Maimonides Hospital, named for a great Torah scholar and Aristotelian philosopher who was born in Spain, trained as a physician and believed in a lifestyle tempered by moderation in all things).
Back then, it differed from Michael Reese hospital in that it was founded by more traditionally observant Eastern European Jews and had a kosher kitchen. “Attempts to combine the two hospitals were never successful,” according to Peter Friedman of the Jewish Federation.
(“All Our Lives: A Centennial History of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, 1881-1981,” edited by Sarah Gordon; as quoted in the Chicago Jewish News 2005.)
In the 1920s, Sinai physicians stressed clinical research in areas including cardiology, bariatrics, gastrointestinal surgery, obstetrics and gynecology. During the Second World War, medical research became laboratory-based, with research expanding after the War to encompass subspecialties such as pathology, cardiology, hematology, surgery, psychiatry, anesthesiology and radiology.
In more recent decades, the hospital campus has expanded and many innovated community-based programs have been developed, with impressive growth in maternal and child health as well as in the emergency department.
(JUF News, A Century of Caring (Part 8), 2009.)
The community of North Lawndale was home to approximately 110,000 Jews by 1930, including the son of Golda Meir (who became the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel). More than 95 percent of the Jewish vote in the 24th ward in North Lawndale went for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1936, leading President Roosevelt to remark, “…it was the best ward in the whole country.”
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago supported two hospitals in the early 1900s: Michael Reese and Mount Sinai, and additionally funded employment services, counseling services directed at families and children with emotional problems, comprehensive at-home and residential services for the elderly and community centers.
(Jewish Virtual Library at www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org; with additional source material from Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2008.)
Mount Sinai Hospital was initially founded to serve the burgeoning West Side population of Chicago, and a group, headed by Judge Harry M. Fisher began the difficult task of seeking funding. A site was purchased at California Avenue and 15th Street opposite Douglas Park in Lawndale, and was first opened in 1912 as Maimonides Hospital. However, due to financial difficulties, the hospital closed but re-opened in 1918 after being reorganized and renamed Mount Sinai Hospital.
Schwab was founded in 1912 as Rest Haven, a convalescent home for impoverished Jewish immigrant workers. Originally housed in various South Side buildings, from 1928 to 1951 it occupied a mansion that had belonged to Marshall Field Jr. at 1919 Prairie Avenue.
(The Jews of Chicago, by Irving Cutler, 1996.)
The post-war expansion of Mount Sinai was designed by architect A. Epstein and Sons, an engineering-architecture firm which was originally considered better equipped to upgrade Michael Reese Hospital. Due to a rivalry between German Jews based at Michael Reese and Eastern European Jews (which included Epstein), the designer instead worked on and later became President of Mount Sinai.
(Business Wire, 2007)
In the 1980s, many hospitals throughout the United States struggled with decisions on whether or not to merge. Of the two Jewish hospitals, only Mount Sinai has survived since 1919, using a strategy grounded in operating on a very tight budget. The author quotes one Sinai administrator in 1992, “We operate as one of the lowest-cost teaching hospitals in the U.S….That’s very difficult. But hard as it is, the staff works well at getting things…” Another contributor commends Sinai’s commitment to education and first-rate care provided to all who come, regardless of faith.
(Forgotten Chicago, forgottenchicago.com)
In January 2007, Mount Sinai Hospital welcomed to its lobby the first videophone booth for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals at a hospital. The videophone booth enabled individuals who use American Sign Language (ASL) to place free Video Relay Service (VRS) calls to any hearing individual in the United States.
News and Headlines about Mount Sinai Hospital
(courtesy of www.ChicagoTribune.com)
December 3, 1918: 4,000 taggers will descend upon Chicago on December 11 with their objective to collect $50,000 for the immediate opening of Mount Sinai Hospital at South California Avenue and West 15th Street. (Sons of Revolution Will Meet Tonight)
June 8, 1919: Tomorrow a luncheon at the Congress Hotel for the purpose of enrolling a membership of 25,000 as an auxiliary of Mount Sinai Hospital. (News of the Chicago Women’s Club)
February 29, 1920: John J. Berry, member of the Chicago Fire Company, has died at his residence at 1916 Belle Plaine Ave. In honor, more than 300 large plants have been granted by the Children’s Aid Mission to Mount Sinai Hospital. (John J. Berry, hero of Chicago Fire of 71, Dies.)
February 28, 1922: Mount Sinai concert nets Hospital $8,000. Mt. Sinai Hospital is better off by some $8,000 last night as the result of a concert given at Orchestra Hall. Both art and philanthropy were served. (Mt. Sinai Concert Nets Hospital $8,000)
December 1, 1929: Members of the Mount Sinai Service Club will take part in “Service a la Carte,” a musical revue, next Wednesday evening in the Aragon ballroom for the benefit of Mount Sinai Hospital. (Mt. Sinai Club Will Present Music Revue)
November 23, 1930: FRIENDS of the Service Club of Mount Sinai Hospital are being asked to lay aside a few dollars for the club’s annual benefit before Christmas shopping depletes their pocketbooks. Last year the proceeds of a theatrical benefit and dance made a substantial addition to the Club’s… (Service Club Revue and Dance Will Benefit Mt. Sinai Hospital)
June 14, 1931: The Children’s Aid of Mount Sinai Hospital will hold its annual luncheon at 12:30 o’clock tomorrow at the Edgewater Beach hotel. The Mount Sinai Hospital Service club will holds it annual luncheon for members who raised the social service fund on Tuesday at the Belmont hotel. (Downtown Clubs)
Feb. 8, 1932: A Valentine day dinner dance, cabaret and bridge party is to be given by the Children’s Aid of Mount Sinai Hospital on February 14 at 1S North Clark Street. The funds obtained will be used to carry on the support of a charity department in the Mount Sinai Hospital for the care of … (Valentine Dinner Dance for Mount Sinai Hospital)
Nov. 24, 1935: Proceeds will be used to provide special nursing care and blood transfusions at Mount Sinai Hospital, to supply eyeglasses, crutches, wheel chairs, and appliances in the dis-…. And to maintain two trained social service. The Chicago String quartet, composed of Herman Felber Jr. and ….(Chamber Music Concert to be Sunday Event)
Feb. 2, 1936: The Mount Sinai Hospital Service Club will observe its 15th birthday with a tea and musical program at 2 o’clock Tuesday at the Edgewater. (Mental Hygiene Group to Hear Dr. Overstreet)
Oct. 6, 1939: A chest respirator, rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital from the home of Fredrick B. Snite Jr. yesterday, sustained a mother’s life while her healthy baby girl was being born. This is the first time in medical history, said Dr. Irving S. Cutter, health editor of Tribune…(Baby Girl is Born to Young Woman in an ‘Iron Lung’)
June 4, 1944: Mount Sinai Hospital was organized shortly after World War I and has grown from 65 beds to 275 beds. Free work amounting to nearly $140,000 each year is done by the staff for the needy. The deficit is made up by subsidies and donations from the Jewish charities of Chicago. (Sinai Hospital to Observe 25 Years’ Service)
Oct. 28, 1945: Civic leaders will attend cornerstone laying ceremonies at 2 pm today for the $750,000 nurses’ residence and educational building which will be erected adjacent (Stone Laying is Today at Mount Sinai Hospital)
Sept. 8, 1946: Mount Sinai’s Nurses home is to open Oct. 1. Project cost is put at $1,000,000. Mount Sinai’s 7-story educational building is near completion and will be ready for occupancy. (Mount Sinai’s Nurses Home to Open Oct. 1)
Sept. 4, 1947: Mount Sinai is the first major Chicago hospital to admit male nursing students. The step was taken, Miss Sandbig said, at the request of veterans’ administration officials who said many veterans wished to continue the work they learned in service. It will also help solve the current….(4 Men to Enter Nursing School at Mount Sinai)
Nov. 2, 1952: Mt. Sinai Club sets $100,000 at its Target….at a recent luncheon of the Mount Sinai Hospital Service Club in the Conrad Hilton Hotel. (Women of Two Groups Aid Drives to Raise Funds for War on Disease)
May 8, 1955: Nine west side women and two men will be among 29 graduates of the Mount Sinai Hospital nursing school to receive diplomas…2:30 pm (11 West Siders Get Diplomas at Nursing School)
June 8, 1956: Milo Savage Departs Today From Hospital. Injury in tumble from ring not serious. By Frank Mastro. Milo Savage will be released from Mount Sinai Hospital this morning after receiving treatment for a back injury suffered in his losing bout with Bobby Boyd in Chicago Stadium. (Milo Savage Departs Today from Hospital)
July 22, 1956: Mount Sinai Hospital, 2750 W. 15th Pl. Since last January 125 members of the hospital staff, most of them nurses, have been trained in a fire safety program initiated by Lt. Robert McGrath of the Chicago fire department and directed by Hyman Levine, executive secretary of …..(Mount Sinai Nurses Learn Fire Safety)
Oct 6, 1957: John Chapnian will speak at ground breaking ceremonies …. for the $220,000 Mount Sinai hospital Blood Research center… (Plan Ground Breaking for Blood Center)
Jul. 25, 1958: Repairs were made to the structure, and Mount Sinai hospital was opened there on May 4, 1919. The hospital grew and gained recognition under his … a life member of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Natural History Museum, and a director of the Chicago Hospital council…. (M. Kurtzon, 83, Who Founded Hospital, Dies)
May 17, 1959: To provide on-campus living quarters for key hospital personnel, the Leopold and Nannette Kling residence hall for 171 interns and resident physicians and their families was opened in November. Mount Sinai, the only kosher hospital in Chicago, will hold the first in a …..(Mark 40 years of Orthodox hospital here)
Aug. 13, 1959: At Mount Sinai, workers were receiving 90 cents an hour, but were raised to $1 after union activity began, he claimed. In commenting on the threatened strike, Howard F. Cook, executive director of the Chicago Hospital council representing 70 Chicago area hospitals, said that non-… (Workers at 2 Hospitals Set Vote on Strike)
Nov. 26, 1961: Dr. Davidsohn, 66, has been pathology director at Mount Sinai since 1930 and chairman of the Chicago Medical pathology department since 1947. (Mount Sinai Pathologist to be hailed)
May 2, 1968: Mount Sinai Hospital’s clinical chemistry laboratory begins a test to determine if an unborn baby has blood irregularity. Before this machine was developed, detection prior to birth was virtually impossible. (By William Mullen, Technicians Team with Doctors to Save Lives thru Automation)
Oct. 30, 1969: The artistic side of the medical personnel at Mount Sinai hospital medical center was displayed to the public Sunday afternoon. Forsaking the scalpel and stethoscope for brush and palette, doctors and research scientists joined hospital employees and students from….(Mount Sinai Center Personnel Exhibit Artistic Abilities)
Jul. 9, 1970: When Konstantina Pappaderos learned last spring she was coming to Chicago this summer she had her heart set….Mr. Rigdon showed the case history and X-rays to Dr. Tom Baffes, a heart surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital….(Greek Girl Arrives for Heart Operation at Mt. Sinai Hospital)
Nov. 12, 1971: Winston E. Moore, County Jail warden, and officials at Chicago Medical School and Mount Sinai Hospital will provide doctors and specialists in every field of medicine to care for patients at Cermak Hospital. (Jails Hospital Will Expand to Lighten Burden on County)
May 11, 1973: Jack E. Leonard, 62, long time comedian who was known as “the master of the one liner,” died here today in Mount Sinai Hospital after his second heart operation in six weeks. Leonard, a native of Chicago, had collapsed in late March appearing at the Rainbow Grill in the…..(Master of one-liners)
Jun. 27, 1986: Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center and Zayre Corp. announced Thursday a joint venture to open medical offices in two Chicago area Zayre stores Aug. 15. Ruth M. Rothstein, Mount Sinai’s chief executive officer, told the Tribune the venture is believed to be the first of its kind….(Mt. Sinai Hospital will open offices in 2 Zayre Stores)
Mar. 19, 1990: A little boy no bigger than a big man’s fist, strapped down and attached to a wild tangle of wires and intravenous tubes, wriggles inside an incubator in the pediatric intensive-care unit of Mount Sinai Hospital. Crack babies were unknown when Mount Sinai opened in 1919….(Urban health care system seems to be near collapse)
Sep. 8, 1992: Nine of the more than a dozen people who were shot to death this weekend in Chicago fell on the West Side in some of the meanest streets of the city. “It’s bad news out there,” said Dr. Jerry Noble, an emergency room physician at Mt. Sinai Hospital and Medical Center. (Holiday or not, killings continue to ravage West Side)
May 16, 1995: Two of Chicago’s busiest inner-city hospitals – Mount Sinai Hospital and Norwegian-American Hospital – say they will close if the state …Without the tax, Mount Sinai would lose an estimated $27 million in payments from the state. That would force the hospital to close within six …. (To Close Norwegian-American and Mount Sinai Cite State Medicaid Mess)
Mar. 2, 1998: The first time he was shot, Andre Mathews considered his wound a badge of honor. The second time, he wound up paralyzed. A $400,000 joint program of Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago aims to break the cycle of gang violence. (Breaking the cycle of violence)
Oct. 21, 2004: Officials today will announce the naming of a new children’s hospital in Chicago. Mount Sinai Hospital, which serves adults and children, now meets the state’s stringent criteria to be designated an official children’s hospital. The designation will make Mount Sinai Children’s Hospital…. (Mount Sinai launches city’s 5th children’s hospital)
