Rush University Medical Center (Rush) is an academic medical center in the

Illinois Medical District The Illinois Medical District (IMD) is a special-use zoning district two miles west of the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. The Illinois Medical District consists of 560 acres of medical research facilities, labs, a biotechnology business incuba ...

neighborhood of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It is the hospital for the Rush University System for Health, which includes Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Copley Medical Center, and serves as the primary teaching hospital in affiliation with

Rush University Rush University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois. The university, founded in 1972, is the academic arm of Rush University Medical Center. Rush University comprises: * Rush Medical College * Rush University College of Nursing * Rush ...

History

Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1837, it is affiliated with Rush University Medical Center, and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. ...

was chartered on March 2, 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was chartered. The college opened with 22 students on December 4, 1843. It was Chicago's first health care institution and one of the few medical schools west of the Alleghenies. Its founder,

Daniel Brainard Daniel Brainard (May 15, 1812 – October 10, 1866) was a Chicago-based surgeon and founder of Rush Medical College. Personal life Brainard came to Chicago in 1836, at the age of 24, and immediately set up a medical practice, soon after which ...

, named the school in honor of

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

, the only physician with medical school training to sign the Declaration of Independence, who later taught

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

basic medical skills for his expedition with

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. The general hospital associated with the medical college was the first in Chicago. The early Rush faculty, well known across the American frontier for its expertise, engaged in patient care, research and teaching, and was associated with a number of scientific developments and new clinical procedures. As the city grew, so did Rush's involvement with other developing institutions: St. Luke's Hospital, established in 1864; Presbyterian Hospital, begun at the urging of the Rush faculty in 1883; and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, with which

was affiliated and later united from 1898 to 1942. In the early 1940s, Rush discontinued undergraduate education, but its library was maintained and its faculty continued to teach at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

School of Medicine. In 1969, Rush Medical College reactivated its charter and merged with Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital, which itself had been formed through merger in 1956, to form Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center.

, which now includes colleges of medicine, nursing, health sciences and research training, was established in 1972. The Medical Center officially changed its name in September 2003 to Rush University Medical Center, to reflect the important role education and research play in its patient care mission. In early 2021, management from both Lurie Children's and Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) announced they were forming a pediatric alliance to better deliver pediatric care throughout the region. The alliance officially started on February 1, 2021, and aligns both inpatient and outpatient pediatric services at RUMC under the "Lurie Children's umbrella", known as "Lurie Children's & Rush Advancing Children's Health."

Services

Rush University Medical Center has 664 patient beds at its 14-story, 830,000-square-foot location on Chicago's Near West Side. The hospital is known for its butterfly-shaped tower, designed to handle mass casualty events. Rush offers more than 70 residency and fellowship programs in medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. It is also the largest nongovernmental employer on Chicago's near West Side, with nearly 10,000 employees and annual spending of over $550 million.

Road Home Program

Rush University Medical Center established the Road Home Program in 2014. The program focuses on mental health treatment for veterans suffering from

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

(PTSD),

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity ranging from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI/concussion) to severe traumati ...

(TBI) and related illnesses. In 2015, the Road Home Program was selected as a founding partner of

Warrior Care Network Warrior Care Network is a mental health program that provides care, travel, and accommodations at no cost for United States veterans and their families. Treatment options consist of intensive outpatient care, mainly focusing on post-traumatic str ...

, along with

UCLA Health UCLA Health is the public healthcare system affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. It comprises a number of hospitals, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UCLA School of M ...

Operation Mend,

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Home Base,

Emory Healthcare Emory Healthcare is an American health care system in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of Emory University and is the largest healthcare system in the state. It comprises 11 hospitals, the Emory Clinic and more than 250 provider locations ...

Veterans Program and

Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, ...

. The Medical Center has a $581.8 million (2020) endowment.

Rankings

In 2024, ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranke
Rush University Medical Center among the top 20 in the U.S.
and tied for No. 1 in Chicago and Illinois. Eleven hospital-based specialties were ranked among the best in the country, including the following: *

Neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

and

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

(No. 7) *

Orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

(No. 10) *

Geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on addressing the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros'' mean ...

(No. 10) *

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

(No. 21) *

Gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

(No. 29) *

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

and

GI surgery Digestive system surgery, or gastrointestinal surgery, can be divided into upper GI surgery and lower GI surgery. Subtypes Upper gastrointestinal Upper gastrointestinal surgery, often referred to as upper GI surgery, refers to a practise of surg ...

(No. 28) *

Pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

care and

lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...

surgery (No. 15) *

Cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

(No. 12 (tie)) *

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

(No. 29) *

Urology Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...

(No. 14) *

Ear, nose and throat Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

(No. 28)

References

{{authority control Hospitals in Chicago Hospitals established in 1837 Teaching hospitals in Illinois 1837 establishments in Illinois Rush University Rush Medical College