1885:
The Norwegian Lutheran Tabitha Society of Chicago holds
its first meeting.
1894: O.M.
Torrison, chairman of the hospital board, lays the
cornerstone for the new hospital in June.
Norwegian Lutheran Hospital is dedicated in October.
1917: The
hospital builds a 100 bed South Wing for $105,000 and
changes its name to Norwegian American Hospital.
1929:
The original 50-bed hospital is razed, and the hospital
builds a new 130 room structure.
1930: A new
five story building is erected, bringing bed capacity to
300, including 75 rooms for private patients.
1940: Women's
Auxiliary is formed.
1945: The
Auxiliary opens a gift shop in the hospital lobby.
1946: Hospital
survives the financial crisis of the Depression, and
retires its debts.
1958:
Dedication held for a five story addition.
1962:
Norwegian American Hospital's School of
Nursing, in existence since the hospital's founding,
closes.
1968: Hospital
begins a new expansion and remodeling project, and
dedicates an Honor Roll commemorating deceased members
of the medical staff.
1969: The
hospital is now a block square, with a medical staff of
115, and 460 employees.
1981: New
delivery room opens. Record 555 babies delivered
in three months.
1984:
Level II Nursery completed, doubling the available
space. Pediatrics renovated. New hospital
logo adopted. Norwegian American Hospital
celebrates its 90th year of medical care with a
series of events commemorating its founding.
1985: Hospital
launches campus beatification project. Health
Works program debuts, enrolling over 200 companies in
its employee health program in less than a year.
1986: New
Labor, Delivery, and Recovery birthing suite is
completed. Over 400 couples use it in the first
year.
1989: The
hospital's 4,000 deliveries place it in the top ten
hospitals in the state for number of births.
Emergency department sets new record, serving 23,000
patients.
1993: Hospital
kicks off a series of events
celebrating
a Century of Service. New GI lab opens. A
comprehensive Management Information System is
installed, and all equipment is modernized.
1994: Nine
year old Marcel Fernandez of Bolivia, blind since birth
with congenital cataracts, undergoes sight-restoring
surgery, while a Filipino toddler, Maria Ugardo, arrives
at Norwegian for removal of a face distorting growth on
her forehead. Emergency Room expands from 6 to 10
treatment bays, and upgrades to Comprehensive status.
1997: Dedication
of new Professional Building with 60,000 square feet for
doctors' offices, and space f
or
the new Women's Health Center, as well as the Physician
Specialty Center, and the Everest Dialysis Center.
Dedication of new Women's Health Center, which addresses
a whole range of women's healthcare needs and services,
including patient education, teenage pregnancy
prevention, and life cycle changes.
2006: Leading
edge Behavioral Medicine Unit is launched to serve the
psychiatric health needs of patients and the community.
