[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 30, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Mount Sinai Hospital opened its doors in 
1919 as a place where Jewish physicians could train and treat the 
immigrant community of Chicago's West Side. Founded by Lithuanian 
Jewish immigrant Morris Kurtzon, Mount Sinai kept its mission as a 
community hospital even as it evolved into a regional medical trauma 
center. This month, Sinai celebrates a century of helping everyone who 
come through its doors.
  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German and Eastern 
European Jews immigrated to Chicago by the thousands, fleeing religious 
persecution. Chicago lacked quality healthcare for these immigrants, 
especially in Chicago's South and West Sides.
  Maimonides Kosher Hospital of Chicago opened in 1912 to fill the 
healthcare gap, particularly the lack of kosher hospitals, and to serve 
this immigrant community. However, Maimonides struggled financially and 
closed after only four years.
  Morris Kurtzon, a board member of Maimonides, was determined to keep 
the dream alive. Kurtzon was born in Lithuania in the 1870s and came to 
Chicago as a child. Before the end of the century, he established the 
Garden City Plating and Manufacturing Company. He was a pillar of the 
community, and with his $50,000 contribution, Maimonides Kosher 
Hospital reopened as Mount Sinai in 1919.
  Within 5 years under Kurtzon's leadership, Mount Sinai had five 
floors, a nursing school, and had grown from 60 to 220 beds.
  Kurtzon retired in 1950, but the hospital continued its growth. Mount 
Sinai established what is now the oldest home healthcare program in the 
State of Illinois in 1953. It became a major community anchor as the 
largest employer in Lawndale.
  Mount Sinai established the Midwest's first in-vitro fertilization 
clinic in 1983. The following year, the Midwest's first rehabilitation 
hospital, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, became part of Mount Sinai. 
Today, it is among the Nation's top programs for physical medicine and 
rehabilitation.
  In 2012, Mount Sinai found an unlikely partner in Holy Cross 
Hospital. When Mount Sinai merged with Holy Cross, they found a way to 
preserve their different faith traditions while committing to the same 
goal of serving the community.
  In 1990, Mount Sinai was designated as a Level 1 Trauma Center, the 
highest level of surgical care for trauma patients. Today, Sinai is one 
of the unsung heroes in treating and working to prevent the gun 
violence epidemic plaguing Chicago. From supporting the Gun Violence 
Research Collaborative and community engagement programs to providing 
world-class emergency treatment and trauma care, Sinai is working 
tirelessly to treat both the physical and emotional wounds that 
violence causes, and survivors are putting their lives back together at 
the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital.
  I am proud to work with Mount Sinai on the Chicago HEAL Initiative, 
which is another example of Sinai's continued commitment to serving the 
community. Under the HEAL Initiative, 10 major hospitals that are 
normally competitors are collaborating to use their economic footprint 
and community engagement to reduce violence and improve health in their 
neighborhoods.
  Mount Sinai has embodied the Jewish values of ``tikkun olam,'' 
meaning repairing the world, and ``hachnasat orchim,'' meaning the 
welcoming and caring for a stranger, for a century now. The names and 
the community have changed, but the values have never changed. Mount 
Sinai is still repairing the world and caring for strangers every day.
  Congratulations on a century of helping people, and here is to 
another century.
  (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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