SwedishAmerican Hospital is a 357-bed non profit, teaching hospital located in Rockford, Illinois. The hospital is a division of UW Health. The hospital was founded in 1911, opening its doors in 1918 following a period of fund raising. In the mid-1990s the hospital proposed a major campus overhaul that was eventually approved by the city of Rockford, providing SwedishAmerican assistance in recovering a blighted neighborhood nearby. The hospital employees more than 350 physicians and includes an emergency department that is a level II trauma center. History In 1911, in response to a great need for healthcare services in Rockford, the city's growing Swedish community, under the leadership of Pehr August Peterson, decided to build a new hospital. Swedish American Hospital, founded in 1911, opened its doors to its first patient on July 18, 1918 with the completion of a 55-bed, US$175,000 facility. The hospital's completion followed a period of fund raising to pay for it. During the mid-1990s officials at Swedish American proposed a long term hospital campus modernization and expansion. Part of the proposal was a request to the city of Rockford was to reroute Charles Street, which passed through the middle of the existing hospital campus. The city agreed, provided Swedish American help renovate and revitalize the blighted neighborhood south of the hospital. The hospital acquired 31 properties in a six-block area south of the complex and committed $2 million to the project. By 2001 dilapidated structures had been demolished and the hospital, along with the city and Habitat for Humanity began construction on the area's first new homes. Concurrently Swedish American Hospital began its own revitalization project of its campus and in June 2006 a $44 million heart hospital opened on the campus of Swedish American. The 94 bed heart hospital gave Swedish American Hospital a new look along with allowing them to better treat cardiovascular diseases. In total, between 2000 and 2006, Swedish American Health System spent $100 million on campus and neighborhood improvements. Services SwedishAmerican Hospital is a 357-bed non-profit hospital which serves the greater Rockford, Illinois region; that area includes northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Swedish American is also a teaching hospital which has an affiliation with the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The hospital employees more than 350 physicians across 40 different specialties and features an outpatient surgery center which approximately 6,000 people utilize annually. The emergency department at SwedishAmerican is a