A simple house, a renovated basement. These structures were the foundation of two small local hospitals that grew with their communities and eventually joined to create Centegra Health System. The focus of their simple beginnings never changed, though: being cornerstones of northern Illinois health care, serving their residents with diligent care and working to stay at the forefront of medicine.
In 1914, Woodstock chartered a hospital in the home and office of Dr. West, but the hospital was so busy in its first year a larger building had to be found on South Street, a location that remains in Centegra Health System today. As the programs and services grew from general emergency care, surgery and delivering babies, so did the building, and in 1994, after decades of several additions and renovations, a complete replacement facility opened on Route 14.
Meanwhile, in nearby McHenry a similar saga had been underway since 1956, when a group of doctors founded a 22-bed hospital in the basement of a medical clinic, and a tradition of care and service was soon inspired by the medical innovations and technology stunning the world of the 1960s.
Both hospitals were among the first in Illinois to apply for trauma center status, to open intensive care units and develop sophisticated medical imaging services. The rapid growth of the sixties and seventies throughout northern Illinois challenged McHenry Hospital and Memorial Hospital for McHenry County to do more than maintain the status quo: growing needs for services increased the demand for space. By 1984, McHenry Hospital had changed its name to Northern Illinois Medical Center and relocated to Route 31 and Bull Valley Road.
In 1987, an on-site Flight For Life helicopter was based at NIMC, and a heliport was established at Memorial. A year later the Center for Cancer Care opened at the NIMC campus, and additional specialty diagnostic services flourished at both hospitals. Behavioral Health services, Health Bridge Fitness Center, cardiopulmonary services, a catheterization lab, and many other innovations were on the horizon and soon became reality.
By 1995, the two hospitals had united and created a new parent corporation: Health Care Services of Northern Illinois. Now the time had come to bring a new level of healthcare to this region as the hospitals' parent corporation changed its name to Centegra Health System, a title that encompassed a philosophy: the patient is the center of what we do and who we are; we work from a basis of integrity; we integrate compassionate care with modern technology. This is Centegra.
What does the name Centegra stand for?
(Cent: Center, Central) Centegra is the center of healthcare for the communities we serve. Our patients are at the center of all we do. Our Associates are at the center of the care we deliver.
(--tegra: Integrity, Integral, Integrated) We approach all we do with integrity and concern for our patients and customers. We want Centegra to be an integral part of preserving and improving the health of the communities we serve. Centegra is an integrated healthcare provider, built upon the tradition of quality care services established at both Memorial Medical Center and Northern Illinois Medical Center.