Overview

In 1897, Jessie P. Forsythe opened a family-run rest home on the property.[1] Forsythe sold the rest home in 1908 to Charles A. Stonchill who “presented it to the Jewish public, with the provision, however, that it be dedicated solely to the care of patients with tuberculosis.”[2] The announcement of his gift was made at a joint meeting of the Baron Hirsch Women’s Club and the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society, after which the two societies joined with the Willing Works and organized and incorporated the Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanitarium.[3] The sanitarium was non-sectarian.[4]

Initially, the sanitarium was a two-story frame building, however, in following decades, more land was acquired and a new sanitarium was constructed on the site.[5] By 1914, eight buildings were added to the sanitarium, including the administration building, children’s cottage, cottage for adult male patients, cottage for adult female patients, and a main building consisting of three stories and a wing for private pay patients.[6]

Patients that were able to pay were accepted, however, in 1914, “the majority of these patients are absolutely unable to pay anything, and, were it not for the generosity and humanitarianism of these broad-minded dispensers of charity, would be forced to continue to work as long as possible, until the disease was so far advanced that nothing could be done except to alleviate the suffering of the moment, until death claimed its victims.”[7]

In 1962, as more treatment for tuberculosis was being handled by places like Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, the sanitarium closed and sold its property to citizens seeking to open a hospital in the area—that hospital became the Central DuPage Hospital.[8]

Institution Name and Type

Goal/Object

1914: “Primarily, the Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium was organized for the care and treatment of patients in the curable stages of pulmonary tuberculosis, although now more advanced cases are admitted.”[9]

Type of Institution

Health : Hospital : Tuberculosis

Location and Building

Main Location

Address: 25 Winfield Rd

Locality: Winfield

County: DuPage

State: Illinois

Administration Information

Date of Founding

1909

Date of Total Closure

1962

Administration

1909: Private

1909: run by three societies—the Baron Hirsch Woman’s Club, the Jewish Consumption Relief Society, and the Willing Workers.[10]

Funding/Support

1914: support of the Associated Jewish Charities of Chicago and assistance of individual subscriptions[11]

Notable People

Administration

Dr. J. L. Anderson, Medical Director in 1914.[12]

Dr. J. C. Friedman, chairman of the advisory board in 1914.[13]

Flora M. Glenn, Chief Nurse prior to 1912.[14]

Dr. S. B. Hirshberg, Resident Physician and Superintendent.[15]

Dr. Theodore B. Sachs, Physician in Chief in 1911.[16]

Past Residents

Intake Information and Requirements

Intake Gender/Sex

Female, Male

Intake Age

All ages

Intake Specifics

1911: for incipient cases only[17]

Number of Residents

1911: capacity of 68 patients.[18]

1914: approximately 400 patients were cared for in the sanitarium each year with an average satay of three months.[19]

Records

It is unknown if there are surviving records relating to this hospital. It is recommended to contact the local historical societies and the charities that ran the institution.

Census Records

1930 U.S. Federal Census

1940 U.S. Federal Census

Sources

“Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium.” 1914. The Chicago Medical Recorder 36(January-December 1914): 352-355.

Jacobs, Philip P. 1911. A Tuberculosis Directory. New York: The National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis.

McCormac, Alice H. 1912. “School Nursing and School Work of the Visiting Nurses of Hartford, Conn.” The American Journal of Nursing 12(8): 659-663. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3404558.

“The Evolution of Winfield’s Rest Home.” 2021. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/01/29/the-evolution-of-winfields-rest-home/.

“Two Hospitals, One Commitment.” n.d. Northwestern Medicine. Accessed on 25 July 2024. https://www.nm.org/about-us/history/northwestern-medicine-central-dupage-delnor-hospital-history.

Village of Winfield. n.d. “The History of Winfield, Illinois.” Winfield, Illinois: https://www.villageofwinfield.com/DocumentCenter/View/214/History-of-Winfield?bidId=.

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[1] Village of Winfield. n.d. “The History of Winfield, Illinois.” Winfield, Illinois: https://www.villageofwinfield.com/DocumentCenter/View/214/History-of-Winfield?bidId=.

[2] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium.” 1914. The Chicago Medical Recorder 36(January-December 1914): 352-355.

[3] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 352.

[4] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 352.

[5] “Two Hospitals, One Commitment.” n.d. Northwestern Medicine. Accessed on 25 July 2024. https://www.nm.org/about-us/history/northwestern-medicine-central-dupage-delnor-hospital-history.

[6] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 352.

[7] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 353.

[8] “Two Hospitals, One Commitment.” n.d. Northwestern Medicine. Accessed on 25 July 2024. https://www.nm.org/about-us/history/northwestern-medicine-central-dupage-delnor-hospital-history.

[9] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 353.

[10] “The Evolution of Winfield’s Rest Home.” 2021. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/01/29/the-evolution-of-winfields-rest-home/.

[11] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 353.

[12] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 354.

[13] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 354.

[14] McCormac, Alice H. 1912. “School Nursing and School Work of the Visiting Nurses of Hartford, Conn.” The American Journal of Nursing 12(8): 662.

[15] Jacobs, 1911. 24.

[16] Jacobs, 1911. 24.

[17] Jacobs, 1911. 24.

[18] Jacobs, 1911. 24.

[19] “Chicago-Winfield Tuberculosis Sanatorium,” 1914. 353.