Chicago, Illinois
Several medical products and services companies are headquartered in the Chicago area, including Baxter International, Abbott Laboratories, and the Healthcare Financial Services division of General Electric.
Of the many colleges in the City of Chicago, there are a number with attached teaching and research hospitals. The largest in the U.S. is the University of Illinois College of Medicine, followed by the Rush University Medical Center, Loyola University-Gottlieb Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Chicago is home to the Illinois Medical District, on the Near West Side, which includes Rush University Medical Center, the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, Jesse Brown VA Hospital, and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, the largest trauma center in the city. You can locate doctors within the district according to their last name or specialty using the online facilities of UCompare Health Care.
With so many hospital and medical center choices for Chicago residents, the variety can become confusing. Health Grades lists all of the hospitals in Illinois with ratings for specific procedures. The United Cerebral Palsy of Illinois website provides a wealth of information on disabilities and prevention of certain disabilities. You can also refer to the Illinois Hospital Directory for contact and medical information.
Chicago, Illinois is in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. The eastern border of the City of Chicago is the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Chicago is the largest city in Illinois with a population of 2,833,321 (2008 U.S. Census estimate). Chicago covers an area of 227 square miles, giving it a population density of 12,750 people per square mile.
Chicago sits beside Lake Michigan and the Chicago River flows south from Lake Michigan toward the Gulf of Mexico. Originally, the Chicago River flowed into the lake; a massive civil engineering project changed the direction of the flow for sanitary reasons. The Chicago River travels through the downtown area (and turns green once a year, on St. Patrick’s Day). The Calumet River also runs through Chicago’s industrial south side.
Chicago was incorporated on March 4, 1837; it had a population of around 200 people at the time. The name “Chicago” is a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, meaning “wild onion.” Chicago’s motto, “urbs in horto,” translates into English as “City in a Garden.” Today, the Chicago Park District consists of 552 parks with over 7,300 acres of municipal parkland. Lincoln Park, the largest of the city’s parks, covers 1,200 acres.
Chicago’s Midway Airport is an important base for budget airlines. Owned by the City of Chicago, it is only 10 miles southwest of center city. Chicago-O’Hare International Airport is the fourth-busiest airport in the world. It is a hub for American Airlines and the primary and largest hub for United Airlines.
Nine interstate highways run through Chicago and its suburbs. Segments that link to the city center are named after influential politicians, with four of them named for former U.S. Presidents. When referring to the expressways, local citizens tend to use the names of the expressways rather than the interstate numbers, primarily because the names denote certain sections of the interstate.
Chicago is a major world convention destination. The city’s main convention center is McCormick Place. With its four interconnected buildings, it is the largest convention center in the nation and third largest in the world.
