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Looking back on Provident Hospital s remarkable history as first Black-owned hospital in US
WLS Provident Hospital on Chicago s South Side has a remarkable past. It was the first Black-owned hospital in the country. The first successful open heart surgery was performed at Provident. The hospital was started to address the healthcare challenges facing Black Chicagoans in the late 19th century.
The hospital opened to much fanfare at 29th & Dearborn in 1891. It was really a community event, said Lionel Kimble Jr., an associate professor of history at Chicago State University.
Provident Hospital met a critical need for Chicago s growing Black population. One that its founder Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Black surgeon, saw firsthand.