Chicago's Mercy Hospital-- Part 3: Things Are Going Downhill

Over the years, the hospital expanded, eventually moving into a new 517-bed facility in 1968.

In recent decades, though, the hospital has lost some of its prominence.

Trinity Health, a large Catholic health system, acquired Mercy in 2012 and at the end of last year reduced the beds to 250.  It earned one star out of five for quality from the federal Centers for Medicare and medicaid Services.  That one star, however, was based on older data.

It serves many poor patients.  More than 40 percent of its inpatients in 2016 were on medicaid according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

--Cooter

Chicago's Mercy Hospital-- Part 2: The Civil War and the Growth of a Chicago Health Care Provider

Mercy Hospital helped Chicago's need for health care as the city grew rapidly in the 19th century.  There were  outbreaks of cholera and tuberculosis.  It became a modern hospital and remained an anchor for care on the city's South Side even to today.

During the Civil War, the Sisters of Mercy treated Union soldiers as well as Confederate prisoners.  In the middle of the war, they moved the hospital to 26th Street and Calumet Avenue near its current location.

Thousands of doctors have trained at the hospital and it was often on the cutting edge of medicine.  In 1955, Mercy neurosurgeon Dr. Harold Vors and his team performed the first successful separation of twins joined at the head.   The hospital also had the first oncology unit in the city.

Over the years the hospital expanded, eventually moving into a new 517-bed facility in 1968.

--Cooter

Chicago's Mercy Hospital Has Storied History-- Part 1: Treated Victims of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871

From the November 20, 2018, Chicago Tribune by Lisa Schencker.

A day earlier, there had been a tragic shooting at the hospital where three people were killed.

The hospital has served the Bronzeville community for 160 years

In 1871, victims of the Great Chicago Fire were treated there.

In 1912, President Theodore Roosevelt stayed at the hospital after he was shot giving a speech in Milwaukee, the one he continued despite the bullet lodged in his chest.]

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley was born there.

It was the first chartered hospital in Chicago with its origins in an old rooming house near Rush Street and the Chicago River in 1852.  It was founded by Sisters of Mercy.

--Cooter