Provident Hospital was founded in 1891 by
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams after
Emma Reynolds, a Chicago woman, was denied admission to Cook County School of Nursing because she was Black. Williams garnered financial support from Chicago’s Black community and White philanthropists, such as
Philip Armour,
Mary Jane Richardson Jones,
T.B. Blackstone, and
George Pullman, to open a twelve bed hospital on Chicago’s south side that would train Black nurses. The hospital in 1898 moved to a larger facility. The founding of the hospital was controversial as some leaders of the Black community, such as
John George Jones, viewed its existence as a continuance of segregation in medicine. In 1938 it was the only fully accredited hospital in the US to provide graduate medical training to Black physicians.Provident Hospital continued operations in the wake of its ended affiliation with the University of Chicago. In 1964, the passage of the
Civil Rights Act saw the ending of segregation within hospitals. This would have unintended negative consequences for Provident as its patient population could now get care at other institutions in Chicago. The hospital saw a large loss in patients and revenue, but continued operations through the 1960s and 1970s despite the financial difficulties. The hospital was in dire need of a facilities upgrade, but lacked the funds to do so. With the help of grants from two federal agencies, Provident was able to open a new facility in 1982, but the continued strain from large debts resulted in the closure of Provident Hospital in 1987. == Today ==