History

Having evolved into a modern regional medical center, OSF Saint Anthony has consistently led with innovation, introducing early breakthroughs in cardiac, cancer, trauma and burn care and treatment. 

Supported by generations of dedicated caregivers, OSF Saint Anthony continues its tradition of compassionate, exceptional care for all who seek healing.

Late 1800s

July 1, 1899: St. Anthony’s Hospital was opened by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis at the corner of East State and Summit Street.
1899: Sister M. Regina Schlemmer, O.S.F., served as the first superior/administrator of St. Anthony’s Hospital.

Early 1900s

1903: A new $60,000 addition that increased the capacity from 18 to 60 was blessed and dedicated.
1909: The new east wing, which doubled the hospital’s capacity, was blessed and dedicated by Bishop Muldoon.
1912: St. Anthony’s Hospital received a new modern ambulance complete with a driver and attendant in matching cap and coat uniforms.
1913: Staff physicians held a special meeting to demonstrate the new pulmotor donated by Rockford Electric Company. The device was used in St. Anthony’s ambulance.
1915: The west wing addition, which contained a new chapel, multiple operating rooms, delivery rooms and a pathology laboratory, was dedicated.
1915: St. Anthony’s Nurses Training School was opened with the enrollment of five students.

1920s

1920: A lawn social held on the grounds of St. Anthony’s Hospital raised over $1,500 to help with increased operating costs.
1924: The silver jubilee for St. Anthony’s Hospital was celebrated with a special Mass and banquet. Five of the first founding Sisters were guests of honor during the festivities.
1925: Rockford’s heaviest baby, weighing 12 pounds, was born at St. Anthony’s Hospital.
1925: The Sisters cared for 4,000 patients at St. Anthony’s Hospital during the year

1930s & 1940s

1930: Bishop Edward F. Hoban dedicated a new $360,000 addition, which included 90 patient rooms, laboratory, dietetic department, maternity department, and operating and X-ray rooms.
1932: St. Anthony’s Hospital celebrated the 10,000 birth since its founding.
1933: Dr. Theodor Lang founded the May Day Clinic at St. Anthony’s Hospital. It was a day of continuing education and fellowship held on the lawn of the hospital.
1942: A new nurses’ home opened at St. Anthony’s Hospital with 144 private rooms for students.
1945: St. Anthony’s Hospital Auxiliary was established by the wives of seven doctors.
1949: Plans for a $70,000 addition to the fifth floor of the west wing were announced.

1950s

1952: The staff at St. Anthony’s Hospital performed the first mitral commissurotomy in the Rockford area.
1955: To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the auxiliary, the first annual Pink Ball was held.
1955: Sister M. Elfrida Witte, O.S.F., celebrated New Year’s Eve with the Rockford police by firing off one of the officer’s guns at midnight.
1959: A team of St. Anthony’s Hospital physicians performed Rockford’s first open-heart surgery, albeit on a pig, which allowed the team to perfect their skills.

1960s

1960: Groundbreaking ceremonies and a ground blessing by Bishop Loras T. Lane was held for the new St. Anthony’s Hospital 85-acre site.
1963: The new $4.8 million hospital was completed at East State and Summit, the current site of the hospital.
1964: Physicians at St. Anthony’s performed Rockford’s first open-heart surgery on a patient.
1965: A new fourth floor addition was completed, adding 78 more beds, an immediate care unit and a research laboratory.
1967: St. Anthony’s Hospital became part of the IBM shared communication system operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.
1967: A helicopter delivered blood to St. Anthony’s Hospital from donors in Chicago. The blood arrived less than one hour after being donated to a patient that had undergone surgery.

1970s

1970: St. Anthony’s Hospital physicians performed the first coronary bypass surgery in the Rockford area.
1971: St. Anthony’s Hospital was designated a Trauma Center for the north central and northwestern, Illinois regions.
1972: The St. Anthony’s Hospital Trauma Center was dedicated.
1973: St. Anthony’s Hospital was designated as the community burn treatment unit.
1974: More than 600 St. Anthony’s Hospital employees volunteered to take part the flu vaccine testing. The hospital was one of five groups in the United States testing the drug for approval from the FDA.
1975: The new Patient Care Tower addition was dedicated.
1976: St. Anthony’s Hospital changes its name to Saint Anthony Hospital Medical Center.
1976: The medical center purchased an ACTA scanner, only one of 72 such machines in the world.

1980s

1981: The new Lifeline emergency helicopter service was dedicated. (Article credit: Rockford Register Star, 11/20/1981)
1984: Saint Anthony Hospital Medical Center started offering home care services.
1984: A new cardiac laboratory, neurological intensive care unit and an outpatient surgery center were dedicated.
1985: The facilities’ name changed to Saint Anthony Medical Center.
1986: The medical center purchased and installed MRI equipment; the first permanent unit in the Rockford area.
1987: An open house was held to view Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy at the Northern Illinois Kidney Stone Center at Saint Anthony Medical Center.
1987: Saint Anthony Medical Center became the first area hospital to implant a cardiac defibrillator.
1989: The 50th Annual Theodor Lang May Day Clinic was held.

1990s

1990: The School of Nursing becomes the Saint Anthony College of Nursing.
1991: A parish nurse program began as the only program in the nation funded by a hospital located in a disadvantaged area.
1992: A blessing of new cardiac catheterization lab was conducted by Bishop O’Neill.
1995: The letters “OSF” were added to facility names to create system identity.
1995: Bishop Doran officiated the blessing and dedication of the OSF Saint Anthony Center for Cancer Care.
1995: OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center was one of the first hospitals in the nation to use frame relay, an advanced computer network.
1996: The Patricia D. Pepe Garden of Hope at the Center for Cancer Care was dedicated.
1996: The first minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass in Rockford was performed at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.
1999: OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center celebrated its 100th anniversary.

2000s

2001: Bishop Doran blessed the new 69,000-square-foot ambulatory care center, located north of the main hospital.
2002: A blessing was held for a new catheterization lab, equipped with an all-digital cardiovascular imaging system.
2005: OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center became the first hospital in the Rockford area to earn a Magnet designation.
2007: OSF Saint Anthony Center for Cancer Care added image-guided radiation therapy, the first facility in Rockford to offer the treatment.
2008: A blessing was held for the new OSF Center for Health-Rock Cut, an 82,000-square-foot building.

2010s

2012: The first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) heart surgery in Rockford is performed at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.
2014: The 75th year of the Theodore Lang May Day Conference was celebrated.
2015: A special celebration was held for the newly expanded OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center Patricia D. Pepe Center for Cancer Care.
2017: A $3.5 million biplane suite for surgical stroke interventions opened, making it the first in Rockford.
2018: OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center was designated as a Comprehensive Stoke Center.
2018: The first Watchman cardiovascular surgery performed in Rockford was at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.
2018: The 144,000-square-foot North Tower, containing 78 private rooms and ambulatory services, was blessed.
2019: The first regional procedure using a flow diverter to treat an aneurysm was performed at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.

2020s

2023: An on-the-go care van to serve the Rockford area was dedicated.
2024: The 500th TAVR was performed at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, the only hospital in the area that offers the procedure.
2025: Artificial intelligence technology program was introduced to help prevent patient aneurysms.