The History of OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center

The Beginning

1877: Mother Mary Potter founded the Little Company of Mary order in Nottingham, England.

1893: Three Little Company of Mary Sisters arrived in Chicago from Rome at the request of Charles Mair, a Chicago civic leader. Charles Mair provided a small cottage for the Sisters at 4124 Indiana Ave.

1893: The Sisters started caring for the sick in the homes of patients and stayed as long as needed. Rich or poor were all treated the same.

Late 1800s & Early 1900s

1897: A new two-story brick building, Convent of the Maternal Heart of Mary, was built in front of the original wooden convent.

1897: Archbishop Feehan dedicated the Sisters’ new chapel and convent.

1902: Plans were announced for a $12,000, three-story addition to be added to the Maternal Heart of Mary Convent.

1926: The Auxiliary of The Little Company of Mary held its first meeting.

1929: Bishop Sheil officiated the cornerstone program for the new hospital.

1930s

1930: The four-story, 150-bed Little Company of Mary Hospital opened, located at 95th Street and California Avenue.

1930: A school of nursing was opened in conjunction with the new hospital. The first class had 10 students.

1930: Cardinal Mundelein, with the help of over 200 priests, dedicated the new Little Company of Mary Hospital. A procession and other festivities followed the ceremony.

1931: Little Company of Mary School of Nursing was established.

1940s

1945: A new, four-story nurses’ home was dedicated.

1947: Construction began on a new addition, followed by a $150,000 fundraising campaign.

1948: A football game was held at Soldier Field between St. Leo and Mount Carmel high schools with proceeds going toward the building fundraising campaign.

1949: The new, five-story addition was completed, making total capacity 350 beds.

1950s

1950: A groundbreaking was held for a new, five-story, 86-room convent for the Sisters, who at the time had been living in a portable frame building on the hospital grounds since 1934.

1950: Drs. Lawler, West and Murphy performed the world’s first human kidney transplant at Little Company of Mary Hospital.

1952: A new, $750,000 convent, located adjacent to the hospital, was blessed.

1953: Mother Mary Potter was beautified by the Vatican.

1955: Two more floors were added with 100 more beds.

1956: A school of medical technology was established. The program was open to students between ages 17-30 with two years of completed college course work.

1960s

1960: A cobalt unit was established, with financial help from the auxiliary.

1960: A new, $5 million addition was completed, adding 130 beds, chapel and administrative offices.

1963: The first graduation for The School of Inhalation Therapy was held with six graduates.

1966: A Cardiac Intensive Care Unit was opened.

1967: Construction began on a two-story, $1.4 million nursing school building.

1970s

1971: A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was opened. The state-of-the-art department was equipped to handle all critical types of illness, both medical and surgical.

1972: The school of nursing closed. Over the school’s 42-year history, 1,399 students graduated.

1973: A new automatic clinical analyzer was installed, the second such machine in Chicago with this advanced technology.

1977: The Sisters of Little Company of Mary celebrated 100 years as an Order.

1980s

1980: The Little Company of Mary Hospital celebrated 50 years of service to the Evergreen Park community.

1985: The Little Company of Mary Hospital opened the Care Station in Oak Lawn to provide routine medical treatments seven days a week.

1987: A cardiac catheterization lab opened, providing new diagnostic capabilities.

1988: The Little Company of Mary Cancer Center was dedicated.

1988: Mother Potter was made venerable by Pope John Paul II.

1990s

1990: The Parkside Recovery Center at Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers offered alcohol and drug treatment programs.

1990: The Mobile Medical Care Program was established to meet the needs of homebound patients. It was the only program of its kind operating in the southwest suburbs.

1991: A five-bed Pediatric Critical Care Unit opened to treat pediatric patients that require 24-hour monitoring by physicians and nurses.

1993: The Mary Potter Physicians Pavilion was blessed and dedicated.

1996: The BBC created a documentary about the world’s first human kidney transplant surgery, which was performed at Little Company of Mary Hospital, called “Knife to the Heart.”

1996: The Health Education Center was opened at the Chicago Ridge Mall, allowing easier access to health-related resources.

1998: The Health Education Center opened at Evergreen Plaza Mall.

1998: The Monsignor Thomas S. Obrycki Physical Therapy Center opened in honor of Monsignor’s 44 years of spiritual leadership to Little Company of Mary.

1999: Little Company of Mary Hospital Cancer Center affiliated with the Medical Oncology Group of the University of Chicago Hospitals begins treating patients.

1999: A groundbreaking was held for the expansion of the Cancer Center.

1999: The first annual Beverly Breast Cancer Walk was held with all proceeds going toward women’s health services at Little Company of Mary Hospital.

2000s

2001: Cardinal George blessed the new, 33,000-square-foot cancer center addiction. Services included alternative medicine, tai chi and yoga classes.

2001: The new Diagnostic Center at Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers on Harlem Avenue in Palos Heights, was opened.

2004: The $2.8 million emergency room renovation and 3,000-square-foot expansion project was completed.

2004: The Little Company of Mary Hospital celebrated the birth of its 200,000th baby.

2004: A 5,400-square-foot senior health facility opened near 95th Street and Halsted Avenue.

2005: A 40-slice CT scanner was added, which offered a non-invasive way to visualize coronary artery disease with CT coronary angiography.

2006: Added daVinci robot technology to treat prostate cancer. It was the only community hospital in Chicago hospital to offer that treatment.

2007: Little Company of Mary was the only hospital in Chicago area to offer both HDR brachytherapy for prostate cancer and the daVinci robotic prostatectomy.

2008: First hospital in the U.S. to perform intra-operative radiation using a new transportable radiation machine for breast cancer.

2009: Little Company of Mary offered noninvasive endoscopic ultrasound, a highly advanced technology usually only offered in university hospitals.

2010s

2012: The eight-story, 300,000-square-foot West Pavilion was completed. The Comprehensive Center for Women’s Life and Health and the Comprehensive Breast Health Center were housed in the new facility.

2012: The Outpatient Care Center in Oak Lawn. was opened.

2014: A time capsule was installed outside the West Pavilion.

2015: The Center for Complete Wound care was blessed after extensive remodeling.

2016: The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Little Company of Mary Hospital  was formed to offer expanded cancer care, specialized treatments and clinical trials.

2019: A medical office building opened on 111th and Central Avenue in Oak Lawn.

2020s

2020: A special Mass was held to celebrate Little Company of Mary Hospital joining OSF HealthCare as OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center.

2024: Plans were announced for a new world-class electrophysiology lab to treat heart arrythmias.

2025: OSF CompleteCare 55+, a 6,500-square-foot facility located at 9855 S. Western Ave., opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

2025: A new obstetrics emergency department was opened to provide timely care for pregnant and postpartum patients.