Our Legacy, Our Future

In 1891, the Provident Hospital and Training School opened its doors to African American doctors, nurses, and patients who experienced closed doors elsewhere. The care received at Provident was second to none and its history of excellence, commitment and equality has an impact on Chicago and the nation that is longstanding.

The Provident Foundation was established in 1995 by James Myles and Edward Gardner to preserve the legacy of Provident Hospital and its founder, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, by promoting education for and providing scholarship opportunities to urban youth pursuing careers in medicine. We feel this is critical to ultimately transforming the health of our communities.

For example, African American medical students are more than twice as likely as white students to express the intention to work in high-poverty, minority communities. However, only 6% of medical school graduates are African American despite accounting for 12% of the population. Furthermore, only 8.5% of medical school graduates are Hispanic relative to more than 17% of the population.

The story of Provident is rich and inspiring; one that instills hope and possibility for our future. View our latest video to experience more of this remarkable story and consider a gift to the Provident Foundation to continue this legacy.

Sincerely,

Myetie Hamilton
Board Chair, The Provident Foundation