Provident Hospital earned its place in Chicago history when Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, an African-American, conducted the first successful open-heart surgery there. Provident began a new chapter when a renovated modern hospital reopened in 1993 as an affiliate of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

As a community teaching hospital, it meets community healthcare needs including primary, specialized, emergency, same-day surgery, maternity, family practice, and critical care services. Provident Hospital’s emergency room is the third busiest in the city, serving more than 50,000 persons per year. A predominantly female staff of physicians and nurse midwives deliver more than 900 babies a year, many of whom continue to receive care at the Southside Children’s Center as they grow.

Actively committed to prevention, Provident staff and volunteers work with community residents to promote good health and wellness. Through health fairs, a speakers bureau, support groups and other activities, Provident Hospital works to improve the health status of communities throughout the Southside of Chicago.

Provident staff members conduct three large community health fairs a year for children, seniors and men. They also participate in more than 70 community-based health fairs annually. Based on an ongoing evaluation of community need, Provident offers a full menu of community education programs concerning asthma, diabetes, and sexual health. The hospital hosts support groups for cancer, alcohol and substance abuse, and HIV, as well as a senior wellness club. Typical of its outreach efforts, the Nursing Department offers health tips to the community through a monthly column in the Chicago Defender.

Deeply integrated in the south side community, Provident expands its scope of services to meet changing community needs. It was one of three hospitals selected to launch the Chicago Board of Education "Cradle to Classroom" initiative, which assists pregnant teenagers in achieving successful deliveries and staying in school. A partnership between the Bureau and the Ounce of Prevention Fund has resulted in Provident physicians contributing to the staffing of three school-based clinics on the south side of Chicago. The hospital provides medical care for the Interfaith House, Chicago’s only residential facility for persons with AIDS and their families. It also addresses the special needs of male healthcare through its "4 Men Only" healthcare group, which meets monthly and offers special wellness services.

Fulfilling the Bureau’s goal of expanding outpatient services into the community, Provident is home to three Ambulatory and Community Health Network clinics: Sengstacke Professional Building (with 30 specialty clinics), Southside Children’s Health Center, and Southside Obstetrics and Gynecology Center. As a community hospital, Provident also serves three Ambulatory and Community Health Network outpatient clinics in Woodlawn, Englewood, and Douglas communities.

Provident has served an increasing number of persons who are receiving cancer treatment. As part of the coordinated Bureau of Health Services approach to cancer care, Provident expanded its mammography capacity, and, this past summer, opened a chemotherapy unit to allow cancer patients to get treatment nearer to their own homes. New specialty services also include orthopedics, podiatry, and an expanded urology service.

In the year 2000, Provident is turning the clock back to a time when doctors made house calls. Resident physicians from Loyola University and Cook County Hospital visit low-income elderly patients in their homes. These patients, in turn, are able to select one of the Ambulatory Network health centers as their primary care site. To further serve the elderly of the community, Provident is providing services in a local senior citizen housing complex and will soon open a comprehensive diabetes clinic, in collaboration with staff from Cook County Hospital.

Provident works closely with the other affiliates to identify the best site for treatment of a particular medical need. For instance, persons with specialized cancer needs are referred to Cook County Hospital, as are most high-risk pregnancies. Persons with less specialized needs are treated at Provident, closer to their homes. Routine day surgery is being increasingly performed at Provident, making such procedures more convenient for south side residents.

As a community hospital, Provident takes seriously its goal of partnering with the community for better health. It is a relationship consistent with Provident’s goal of being part of an extended family of care. As a member of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, Provident is able to combine the personal care of a community hospital with the diverse, specialized services of a nationally-recognized healthcare system.