Overview
Mount Sinai Hospital Established in 1919
From 1890 to 1914, a large number of immigrants came to the United States from
Eastern Europe. Many of them were Orthodox Jews and several thousand settled
in the Chicagoland area. Many concentrated in the North Lawndale area
- the geographical community bounded by Western Avenue on the East; Cicero Avenue
on the West; 22nd Street on the South; and the Eisenhower Expressway on the North.
By 1919, it became quite apparent to community leaders that there was a need for a hospital for three reasons:
- better community health care;
- a hospital where dietary(kosher) laws could be observed; and
- a place where Jewish doctors could become educated and send their patients.
So, in 1919, Morris Kurtzon founded Mount Sinai Hospital. The hospital opened on May 15, 1919 with 60 beds. It expanded, and floors were added to the original structure with a 429 bed capacity reached by 1948. As mentioned previously, Mount Sinai Hospital was a community hospital for its first thirty years. In this capacity it had two major roles - Patient Care and Community Service. Patient care was made available to persons admitted to the hospital for continuous treatment and observation. At any given time, Mount Sinai Hospital now has about 400 such “inpatients”.
As for community service, from the beginning, the hospital treated “outpatients” and services were rendered to those persons who needed care, but for whom admission was not necessary. Both roles are very much a part of the purpose of Mount Sinai Hospital today.
Mount Sinai today serves a predominantly African-American and Latino community
with vigor and dedication that have grown stronger through the years.
Sinai’s mission of serving an underserved population is carried out at the main hospital campus in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood; in health centers throughout the city and suburbs; and at sites designated by our many partners - government and private agencies that share our concern for equitable allocation of health services to every individual, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or economic status. Sinai also is concerned with the economic well being of area residents. Employees have taken leadership roles in housing-development programs, tenant-organizing initiatives in nearby public housing, and area social-service agencies.
