History

Take a journey in time as we identify highlights and key points throughout the history of OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center.

1800's

1882 – A small group of Franciscan Sisters transformed a small, 14-room hotel into a hospital named St. Elizabeth Hospital.

1892 – Lake View Hospital, under the name of Vermilion County Hospital, opened just a few blocks away from the new St. Elizabeth Hospital. Lakeview was housed in the McCrone building on East Fairchild Street right across from the present-day Danville High School.
1903 – St. Elizabeth Hospital added the east wing to accommodate more services for the changing times.
1919 – St. Elizabeth added a fourth floor medical surgical unit to accommodate 170 patients.

1923 – Lake View Hospital installed an X-ray machine regarded as the best in the state.
1929 – John H. Harrison of the Commercial News gave funds for the building of a new wing on the southeast corner of Lakeview Hospital. The wing was called the Minta Harrison Wing, naming it after his mother.

1958 – St. Elizabeth broke ground for a six-story patient tower.
1959 – A fund drive was conducted to raise money to rebuild and modernize both St. Elizabeth and Lake View Hospitals.
1959 – Lake View Hospital’s name was changed to Lakeview Memorial Hospital.

1973 – St. Elizabeth was named the area-wide trauma center for the region. At the same time, Lakeview added another wing on the south side of the hospital.

1980 – Lakeview broke ground to build the most extensive hospital building program in local history.
1981 – The Oncology Center for Danville was opened southwest of the Lakeview Memorial Hospital. Three years later, the oncology center was purchased by Lakeview Memorial.
1982 – St. Elizabeth opened the new west wing, which included a new emergency department, surgery center, obstetrics office and laboratory.
1988 – St. Elizabeth and Lakeview Memorial merged their operations to create United Samaritans Medical Center, creating a solid platform for growth. Over the next eight years, United Samaritans Medical Center continued to make significant improvements in local care. The medical center opened a regional eye center, brought advanced MRI technology to Danville and established its first Board of Directors for its hospital Foundation.

1992 – The United Samaritans Foundation started its donor recognition program, an association giving program and the Women Aware and HALO community outreach programs.
1997 – In December, the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart (who operated United Samaritans Medical Center), the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary (who operated Covenant Medical Center in Urbana, Illinois) and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas created Provena Health. This union brought together seven hospitals, 14 long-term care centers, 28 clinics and five home health agencies under one umbrella organization.
1997 – Provena United Samaritans made use of the new resources by purchasing new catheterization equipment, building new labor and delivery suites and updating their facilities at the renamed Regional Cancer Center.
1999 – Provena United Samaritans and Provena Covenant Health in Urbana, Illinois, joined together to create the Provena Regional EMS system, coordinating the emergency response activities of 47 agencies in eight counties. Since that time, the two hospitals have worked together to coordinate care for their overlapping communities in a variety of services.

2011 – In November, through the merger of Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care, Presence Health was created. Provena United Samaritans Medical Center became Presence United Samaritans Medical Center.
2017 – In August, OSF HealthCare, under the sponsorship of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, signed a letter of intent to take ownership of Presence United Samaritans Medical Center.
2018 – In February, the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis renamed Presence United Samaritans Medical Center to OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center to honor the legacy of the original founding Sisters of St. Elizabeth Hospital.