A Rich History of Healthcare Service

Since opening in 1964, Central DuPage Hospital has provided comprehensive medical and surgical services. The hospital has grown from a 113-bed acute care hospital with 66 physicians in 1964, to a 313-bed full-service medical center with a medical staff of more than 800 physicians.

Still, our legacy of promoting the health and wellness of area residents reaches back over a century.

1897-1908: The Roots of Health Service Begin

The site where Central DuPage Hospital currently stands has a century-long history of health service. In 1897, Winfield, Illinois, was selected as the site for a family-run rest home near what is now the main entrance to Central DuPage Hospital. The two-story frame building was set on a wooded hillside, with grounds that reached to the DuPage River.

After the owner’s death in 1908, the rest home was sold. A year later, it reopened as the Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which was operated by three Chicago-area charitable organizations.

1908-1962: Expanding for Growth

Over the years, more land was acquired to the east. The original building was destroyed by fire, and a new sanitarium was rebuilt on the same site. By the late 1950s, most patients were being relocated to Chicago for care. In 1958, a citizens group representing the communities of Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Wheaton, Warrenville, Winfield and West Chicago was incorporated as the Central DuPage Hospital Association. Their purpose: to establish a hospital in the area.

A community-wide fundraising drive took place. With philanthropic support from local citizens, businesses and friends, Central Dupage hospital Association purchased the sanitarium and its land from the Jewish Federation of Chicago in 1963, and then invested another $1 million in improvements and expansion to ready it for opening day.

1962- Present: A Hospital Takes Shape

On September 16, 1964, Central DuPage Hospital opened its doors. The new 113-bed hospital was the achievement of seven years of careful planning and preparation.

Under a long-range development plan, the hospital’s size more than doubled when a new pavilion was completed in 1970. Smaller additions were added in 1971-72. Stage II of the long-range plan called for a new five-story patient tower and new surgery facilities, which were completed in 1976. Stage III of the long-range plan added a new birthing wing and additional surgical facilities.

Today, Central DuPage Hospital has tripled its licensed beds and expanded its medical staff more than ten-fold from its initial size. The hospital is the hub of a network that include physician practices, outpatient medical centers, residential facilities for aging adults, occupational health facilities and other resources. Despite the expansion, Central DuPage Hospital remains committed to a core goal: to promote the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

Milestones in Our History:

1897 Family-run rest home opens near the site of what is now Central DuPage Hospital’s main entrance.

1908 Rest home is sold to charitable organizations, after death of home’s owner.

1909 Facility reopens as Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanitarium.

1958 Central DuPage Hospital Association is established.

1963 Rebuilt sanitarium building sold to Central DuPage Hospital Association.

CDH Milestones:

1960s

• Central DuPage Hospital opened on September 16, 1964 as a 113-bed community hospital.
• Laboratory received first of ongoing accreditations by the College of American Pathologists.
• Intensive Care Unit opened.
• Medical Technology training program established.
• Laboratory services expanded to provide 24-hour coverage daily.
• Ground broken on March 16, 1969 for Stage I expansion program
• Cardiac Care Unit initiated.

1970s

• Same Day surgery initiated – the second in the state.
• Became clinical training area for the College of DuPage’s associate degree of nursing program.
• A 120-bed addition opened on December 13, 1970 as part of Stage I expansion.
• The first corneal transplant performed at CDH, first in the County.
• The first total hip replacement operation was performed, first in the County.
• Department of Nuclear Medicine established.
• Kidney Dialysis Unit opened.
• Pharmacy converted to unit dose system.
• Intermediate Nursing Unit established.
• Cardiac Diagnostic Lab initiated.
• Medical Library created.
• Stage II expansion completed in December 1976, adding a five-story, 112-bed patient pavilion.
• Introduced all new Dietary facilities and innovative Materials Management Division.
• First open heart surgery program is established – first in the County.
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opens in 1979 – first in the County.

1980s

• CDH opened an alcoholic treatment unit – first freestanding unit in the County.
• New psychiatric unit opened.
• Full-time chaplain appointed to direct new Pastoral Care Department.
• CDH responded to the need for immediate access to non-emergency medical care services with the development of Urgent Care at Stratford.
• Major construction program undertaken, concentrating on new birth wing.
• CDH became a Level II trauma center in 1988.
• East Surgery Wing opened to provide highly specialized environment for eye, plastic and gastrointestinal surgeries.
• Center for Digestive Disorders established.
• MRI capabilities added.

1990s

• Groundbreaking for CDH’s stage V initiated the construction of new Intensive Care Unit & Critical Care Unit and new Emergency Care Center, clinical laboratory and other updated and expanded facilities.
• Surgeons from Neurospine Center performed the first “free vascularized fibula”procedure in the United States.
• 24-hour mental health crisis unit opened in Emergency Care Center, assisting more than 150 patients per month.
• Fourth Convenient Care and medical office building opened at River North in Naperville.
• CDH became the first hospital in the world to offer spinal fusions performed laproscopically, using a biogenetically engineered all-natural material.
• CDH is DuPage County’s only hospital to offer the “Stealth System” – a neurosurgical image guided system which greatly enhances removal of brain tumors, and assists in some spinal procedures.
• Electrophysiology lab opened.
• Breast Health Center opened.
• Cardiac Interventional Unit opened.
• CDH became one of the first hospitals in the Chicago area to perform open-heart surgery on a beating heart.
• In 1999 CDH became the first hospital in DuPage County to receive the State's top Level III designation for Obstetrical and Neonatal services.
• Emergency Department recognized by the state of Illinois as an ED Approved for Pediatrics.

2000s

• CDH became the first west suburban hospital to utilize computer assisted Landmar X ENT Image Guidance system to make sinus surgery safer and more effective.
• Groundbreaking took place on October 1, 2002 for a new construction project that will realign the health system’s services to be more patient-centered.
• CDH used film-less x-rays and obtained diagnostic images on computer screen in virtually real time.
• CDH is named on of the “Most Wired” hospitals, and receives “Innovator” award for work with wireless for laptop and phone/PDA access to data anytime/anywhere.
• Robotic-assisted cardiac bypass surgery performed at CDH - a first in Illinois.
• Women and Children's Pavilion opens.
• Ambulatory Services Pavilion opens.
• East Surgery Pavilion opens.
• CDH is rated as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the United States by Thomson, a national healthcare information company.