Palos Community Hospital

Description

About Palos Community Hospital
Palos Community Hospital has served the people of Chicagos southwest suburbs for nearly 40 years The health care we provide is guided by traditions established over the years traditions of quality respect and trust

At Palos Community Hospital we live by one simple philosophy We treat people the way we would want our own family and friends to be treated Our mission of compassionate care is founded in the rich heritage of the Sisters of the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph The Sisters dream shared by community leaders to build a hospital on 40 wooded acres in Palos Heights became a reality on March 19 1972 when the doors opened to those seeking care

Today in response to community need Palos Community Hospital has flourished as a major health care provider with a responsive network of services a network with a singleness of purpose to provide compassionate quality care

This is possible because of the dedicated and highlyskilled employees who make up Palos Community Hospital We take great pride in the caliber of employees we recruit and retain In every department and at every level our employees work closely together each with his or her unique talents to serve our patients

As Hospital President Sister Margaret Wright has eloquently written quotI know of no way to express the reality of the thousands of human dramas that have occurred here and the difference this hospital has made in all of them I do know that all of us who work at Palos Community Hospital have played a vital part in the life of our communityquot

Concern for our patients is at the very core of every decision we make and each action we take Our services are structured around two simple tenets get people well and help them stay well Our tradition of respect is reflected in many of our programs designed to make life easier for both patients and their families

The Palos Mission
Palos Community Hospital is a notforprofit community hospital which is operated in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Facilities

The primary objective of Palos Community Hospital is the provision of inpatient and outpatient services that are responsive to the health care needs of the residents of southwestern Cook County and northeastern sections of Will County In providing any service be it preventive curative or palliative the overriding concern of the institution shall be that the quality of that service be of the highest caliber

Palos Community Hospital shall be committed to a continued review and analysis of the changing needs of the community it serves and shall respond to those needs with services that are readily available in a form that enhances their efficient use by physicians and patients In addition PCH shall maintain an ability to adapt to changes and influence forces in its environment effectively and expeditiously

History

Palos Community Hospital History
Although we opened our doors to patients in March 1972 the roots of Palos Community Hospital date back to 1903 when St Bernard Hospital was founded in Chicago by the Religious Hospitallers of St Joseph In 1920 the religious order purchased 175 acres of land in the Palos area about 20 miles southwest of Chicagos Loop A portion of this land eventually would become Palos Community Hospital

From 1920 to 1955 the land was farmed and supplied fresh produce meat and dairy products to St Bernard Hospital In 1939 the order acquired Auburn Park Community Hospital and renamed it St George Hospital Then in 1959 a part of the 175acre Palos plot of land was sold to the Northern Illinois Gas Company and another portion became the Country Squire Estates subdivision By 1965 the Palos Heights City Council had begun annexation of the remaining 40 acres known locally as Mount St Joseph and approved plans to build a hospital Annexation of the site was completed in 1968

The plans called for the construction of a 265bed facility at an estimated cost of 125 million The plans also provided for eventual expansion as the need arose and without detriment to the functional or aesthetic design of the building or site In January 1970 ground was broken and construction began

From the original 265 beds the hospital expanded to 321 beds in 1975 Additional construction brought the licensed capacity to the current 436 beds

In order to meet the evolving health care needs of the community we expanded our range and depth of outpatient services through the construction of the Primary Care Center in Orland Park in 1985 along with subsequent construction of the Ambulatory Care Center on the main hospital campus As the Orland area has continued to grow so has the Primary Care Center with the opening of the West Building in 1989 and the South Building in 1999 Today the Orland facility houses our Immediate Care Center outpatient laboratory radiology and ultrasound services outpatient psychiatric services and a chemical dependency treatment program our Cardiac Rehabilitation Center physical therapy and sports rehabilitation our New Direction weightloss program a pharmacy and offices for more than 70 physicians and dentists

In addition PCH also jointly owns and operates the Southwest Hospitals MRI Center in Oak Lawn in conjunction with Little Company of Mary Hospital In 1996 the hospital purchased an independent home health care agency and now provides an expanded range of services under the name of Palos Community Hospital Home Health Care and Hospice