On August 16, it will have been 25 years since Provident Hospital became part of Cook County Health & Hospital System (CCH) as a public, community teaching hospital.

At 500 E. 51st St, Provident Hospital has been an anchor in the South Side community since it first opened in 1891. It also has several “firsts” in medical history. Not only was the nation’s first open-heart surgery performed at the hospital in 1893, but Provident also established the first nursing school for black women in Chicago.

Provident closed in 1990, but CCH reopened it in 1993.

CCH will be hosting an open house for people in the community on Saturday, August 25 to highlight Provident’s new ophthalmology and mammography suites as well as the several other specialties and primary care CCH offers.