Cook County Hospital Museum

It was known as Chicago’s palace of medicine, as well as its Ellis Island, for the way it accepted immigrants and others with no alternate means for care. The building that once housed Cook County Hospital was reopened as a Hyatt hotel in 2020, but inside the stunning Beaux-Arts structure, which at one time provided 2,700 beds for the most needy Chicago residents, you can still find remnants of its old purpose. Hidden down a ground-floor hallway is a tiny museum, run by the county, that documents the building’s notable past: the hospital’s impact on the immigrant community over the 106 years it was housed there, historic epidemics in Chicago, the development of modern medicine, and the building’s renovation. With its well-told narratives and a small but fascinating (and frightening) collection of medical artifacts, it’s a place that will leave you appreciative of the ways public health has shaped this city. 1835 W. Harrison St., Near West Side