Caring for our communities

For three weeks in February NCH, NorthShore University Health System and Swedish Hospital found a wonderful way to celebrate the combining of our healthcare systems during a pandemic.

“We weren’t able to celebrate joining with NorthShore with traditional events like organizational tours and open house receptions, so we wanted to celebrate safely and do something that made a positive impact on our communities,” said NCH’s Director of Guest Services Stephanie Chan Vo.  

One of the pillars of our combined healthcare system is our commitment to community. With that in mind, we hosted an organization-wide community service project called Caring for Our Communities. February was selected – traditionally a time for celebrating the spirit of love and togetherness with those we care about. Each of our hospitals held individual collection drives that targeted the specific needs of our local communities and their residents.

Evanston Hospital employees collected items for Connections for the Homeless; Glenbrook Hospital employees collected items for the Northfield Township Food Pantry; Highland Park Hospital employees collected items for Moraine Township; Skokie Hospital employees collected items for the Niles Township Food Pantry; Swedish Hospital employees collected items for the Friendship Center and NCH employees collected items for the Community Resource Center in Palatine.

“The Community Resource Center (CRC), owned by NCH, and with support from community partners, provides many community health outreach initiatives and programs throughout the year. In addition to health and wellness, the CRC provides education, literacy, employment, counseling and youth services and has more than 200,000 visits annually. We are so proud of the CRC and the impact it has made on our community,” said Executive Director of Community Services and Advocacy at NCH Karen Baker.

The CRC in Palatine is a community center that houses a spectrum of agencies and organizations dedicated to meeting the needs of the northwest suburbs’ under-resourced population, including a large percentage of immigrant families. Cleaning supplies donated by NCH employees will help these families stop the spread of the COVID virus. NCH employees were asked to donate bar/liquid soap, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, dish soap, laundry detergent, disinfecting spray, scouring powder, bleach and buckets, empty cleaning spray bottles, reusable cleaning gloves sizes M and L, paper towels and thermometers.

The donation from NCH employees consisted of 116 sanitation kits which were enough serve 450 people.