Experience Cook County Hospital

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Cook County Hospital dates back to 1832, when Chicago was a swampy, lakeside trading post with 400 inhabitants. The proliferation of cholera called for a temporary wooden structure—built to isolate indigent patients—and care was provided by students from Rush Medical School. Cook County Hospital’s first permanent building was built by the city of Chicago after the deadly cholera outbreaks of 1849 and 1854, and went on to serve as a groundbreaking teaching hospital until it became an army hospital during the Civil War. 

Since 2020, the former hospital has been used as a hotel and has been restored of a cost of over $1 billion dollars.