For a recent 'Throwback Thursday,' the Hospital & Health Network website took a look Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in in Melrose Park, Ill. The entrance canopy was considered controversial when the state-of-the-art medical facility addition was completed in 1961.
When the first phase was completed, the facility’s state-of-the-art technology was a selling point: a heating and air conditioning system powered by radiant ceiling panels, remote-control television, a bedside-operated audio and visual nurses’ call system and interiors that were "pleasing and designed for patient comfort.”
Gottlieb’s distinctive entrance canopy also created a stir within the medical community, because it was considered too “showy.” The feature eventually was duplicated nationwide.
While Gottlieb has been expanded numerous times during the past 50 years, elements of the original design are still visible. The facility merged with Loyola University Health System in 2008 and became part of Trinity Health System in 2011.