Founded this day in History
By Ken Hare
Chicago Defender Staff Writer
Provident Hospital and Training School was founded on May 4, 1891. The first African-American owned and operated hospital in America was established in Chicago by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Black surgeon during the time in American history where few public or private medical facilities were open to Black Americans.
The historic Provident Hospital was forced to close in 1987 due to financial difficulties, it reopened in 1993 as part of Cook County’s Bureau of Health Services to provide services to residents of Chicago’s south side.
In 1887, Williams became the first African American on record to have successfully performed pericardium surgery to repair a wound, according to sources.
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