Our History

St. Bernard Hospital has been a continuously growing entity within Chicago's Englewood neighborhood since its very first brick was laid in 1904. Over the century, the hospital, its staff and its leadership have been giving to the community through a diverse and evolving array of services and facilities. Now over 100 years later, our commitment has never been stronger as St. Bernard Hospital charges into the 21st century.

 

100 Years Ago
Toward the end of the 1800s, the population of Chicago was still under 1 million. In 1889, the southernmost neighboring area of Englewood was annexed to the City of Chicago. Some speculate that this was done in order to help the city grow its population in order to win the bid to host the 1893 World's Fair. By the early 1900's, the population of Chicago had grown to 1.6 million. Englewood was a hub of commercial activity, second only to the Loop area. And a burgeoning church, St. Bernard's Church, was an integral part of neighborhood development.

The church's leader, Father Bernard Murray, was a dedicated man who recognized the many growing needs within the community - in particular, the need for proper health care. So, familiar with a growing organization that might be of service, in 1903, he petitioned the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph from Kingston, Canada to assist with the development of a new hospital. The group agreed to send seven sisters to his aid. And Father Murray's work on this monumental project began.

Sisters Mary Ann Blaney, Sarah Farrell, Ann Hopkins, Helen Jarrell, Gertrude Leahy, Mary Catherine Leahy, and Elizabeth Norris arrived on November 21, 1903 - ready to assist as requested. Of course, much work lay ahead - and over the next couple of years, the sisters, Father Murray and the entire community banded together to raise the funds necessary to complete this tremendous undertaking.

The first brick of what was to become the initial section of the hospital was laid in 1904. In the same year that Einstein introduced the Theory of Relativity and Kellogg's first packaged Corn Flakes, the first building at St. Bernard was complete and dedicated on November 21, 1905. It was formally named after the patron saint of its founder, St. Bernard Hotel Dieu (French for "House of God.")

Through the Years
Through the years, the hospital persevered to stand the test of time. The services and facilities offered evolved with the ever-changing needs of the community. Success and expansion of St. Bernard Hotel Dieu relied solely on the generosity of those organizations and people who shared in the belief that all people had the right to quality health care.

Among many improvements in equipment and technology, major structural additions to the original building included the Sacred Heart Pavilion in 1962 (the same year the name was formally changed to St. Bernard Hospital), a new Patient Wing in 1976, and a new Emergency Facility in 1983.

One of the major institutions of the hospital's early years was The School of Nursing. To make way for the 1976 expansion and to adjust with the trend towards college education for nurses training, the school was closed. In the sixty-nine years of the school's existence, over fifteen hundred nurses graduated from St. Bernard and went on to professional careers throughout Chicagoland and beyond. Of course, the legacy of learning continues into the future. The hospital, in collaboration with various schools and universities, provides clinical training programs for students studying to be RNs, LPNs, CNAs, pharmacists, medical students, x-ray technicians, and medical records professionals. Students rotate through the Departments of Surgery, Obstetrics, Pathology, Radiology, Psychiatry, Pharmacy, Respiratory Care and Dietetics. In addition, the 33,000 patients seen annually in the Emergency Room provide excellent training for Emergency Medicine Residents.

Today
Today - St. Bernard currently employs over 700 people in various capacities. From technicians to housekeeping staff, nurses to materials management personnel, therapists to central supply workers. The medical staff is comprised of over 150 physicians with varying specialties.

Thousands of area residents come through the doors every year -- confident that they will find the same quality care that has been offered for 100 years - knowing that St. Bernard Hospital has been a constant, positive force in the community.