Although Advocate Lutheran General Hospital has been in its Park Ridge location since December 1959, its origin dates back a century ago to Chicago's near northwest side.

On May 22, 1897, the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Society of Chicago transformed a rented brick two-flat at Artesian Avenue and LeMoyne Street into Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Hospital to help meet the medical needs of immigrants moving into the Humboldt Park area. The Deaconess Society and a group of Norwegian pastors, physicians and lay persons involved in the care-giving movement, practiced a healing mission that not only focused on treating illness, but the whole person.

The demand for health care services soon outgrew the original 25-bed facility and within five years the new Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital was constructed at Haddon Avenue and Leavitt Street. In 1904, the organization came under the control of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church, an arrangement that lasted until 1917 when the Evangelical Lutheran Church assumed leadership. Over the next several decades, Lutheran Deaconess continued to grow and prosper with the construction of new hospital wings, addition of medical staff members and initiation of the School of Nursing.

The greatest period of development was initiated in the 1950's when the Evangelical Lutheran Church authorized the purchase of land in Park Ridge to construct a new hospital. Lutheran General Hospital was dedicated on Christmas Eve 1959. The total cost of the 326-bed facility, including land and a building for the School of Nursing, was $7.6 million.

Guiding Lutheran General at this time were Naurice M. Nesset, Ph.D. (Lutheran General's first president) and the Rev. Fredric M. Norstad (vice president and program director of Lutheran Institute of Human Ecology). Their vision was to establish the hospital as a leading center of medical education and research, while offering a comprehensive, compassionate level of health care. Echoing the healing tradition of the deaconesses, the human ecology philosophy of care was adopted, extending beyond high medical technology to help ensure that each patient's physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual needs were met.

The hospital evolved into Lutheran General HealthSystem (LGHS) in 1980, a vertically integrated network of health and human services organizations committed to providing a continuum of care for patients in the communities it served. Recognized as an industry leader in the implementation of Continuous Quality Improvement and as a major provider of care in metropolitan Chicago with more than 75 area sites, LGHS was one of 12 United States health systems selected by the American Hospital Association as a model of how a system can innovatively prepare for health care reform.

In January 1995, Lutheran General HealthSystem and EHS Health Care combined to form Advocate Health Care, the largest health care system in the Chicago area.

Lutheran General Hospital is entering its second century on a wave of growth and continued national honors for its commitment to quality service. Lutheran General has been repeatedly selected as one of the nation's best hospitals and one of the top 10 major teaching hospitals, according to the top "100 Hospitals: Benchmark for Success" study.

The 608-bed hospital is a recognized leader in cardiology, cancer care services, critical care, women's health needs, mental health and addiction, and trauma care. The Lutheran General Children's Hospital is one of the largest and most comprehensive providers of pediatric care in Illinois. Other Lutheran General specialty areas include medical/surgical, obstetrical/perinatal, orthopedic, neurology/neurosurgery, geriatric, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Academic Affiliations
For the seventh year, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, has been selected one of the nation's best hospitals and top teaching institutions. It has comprehensive clinical facilities, a diverse patient population, a dedicated and knowledgeable Faculty. As a consequence, Lutheran General Hospital does not require external University sponsorship to be accredited as a teaching institution, and it can choose to sponsor most of its programs independently.

Due to our excellent reputation in the discipline of teaching clinical medicine, we are favored by many medical schools to educate their students. The Department of Medicine has three major academic affiliations: with the University of Illinois at Chicago, with the Rosalina Franklin University of Medicine and Science/The Chicago Medical School and with The Chicago Osteopathic School of Medicine. From these three schools, students in their second, third and fourth year of medical training receive clinical education at Lutheran General Hospital.

Advocate Health Care
Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is one of the largest health care systems in the Chicago area and the United States. It has more than 21,000 employees, 3,800 physicians and 180 sites of care including eight hospitals with approximately 3,200 beds. Advocate also has two medical groups with 360 physician members, the area's largest full-service home health care company, skilled nursing facilities and outpatient centers. In addition, it has a long-term academic and teaching affiliation with the University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Centers. Advocate Health Care is related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ.