History

A Rich History of Care in our Community

Beloit has been very fortunate to have a history of compassionate care in the Stateline community. In 1928, Beloit Municipal Hospital was built on Beloit’s Olympian Boulevard and provided care at that location for over 40 years. Beloit Municipal Hospital, as it was initially known, replaced three small, private medical facilities. The sledding hill adjacent to the building is still referred to as “hospital hill”. At that time, the hospital was city-owned and tax-supported.

When a new hospital was needed in the early 60’s, the city voted to lease the hospital to Beloit Memorial Hospital, a private, nonprofit corporation. The operation of the hospital then became the responsibility of the nonprofit group and the community which it served.

Ground was broken for Beloit Memorial Hospital in October of 1967 and construction began immediately. The unique “snowflake” design of the building was incorporated into the hospital logo which is still used today. When construction was finished and the dedication was celebrated in 1970, the new $11.8 million hospital was judged as one of the finest, most efficient patient care structures in North America designed and built with the comfort and care of the patient in mind.

Beloit Memorial Hospital’s campus consists of 25 beautiful tree-filled acres and more than 350,000 square feet of space, rising five stories high. The sixth and seventh floors are dedicated to service, mechanical and environmental operations. Architecturally beautiful in 1970, the tradition continued in further expansions such as the Dialysis Center, Stateline Emergency Center, Cancer Care Center, and more.

In 1985, the hospital expanded their range of specialty services by establishing a close affiliation with the well-known University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. This affiliation has provided our community with the expertise of specialists and added to the scope of our quality care.

In 1989, the Footville Medical Center, the first clinic for Beloit Memorial Hospital, opened to provide primary and preventative care to the residents of this rural area. Since that time, Beloit has opened a host of additional outreach centers currently providing care in Clinton, Beloit’s West Side, and in South Beloit, Illinois.

The largest and most extensive expansion for Beloit Memorial Hospital was NorthPointe Health and Wellness Campus in Roscoe, Illinois in 2007. Located on 122-acres off Interstate I-39, the campus offers a unique health environment with three dedicated areas of service: NorthPointe Health (diagnostic, Immediate Care and physician clinics), NorthPointe Wellness (medically integrated fitness center), and NorthPointe Terrace (assisted living).

Beloit Memorial Hospital was renamed as Beloit Health System when it merged with Beloit Clinic in 2010 and became an integrated healthcare organization. By working together, the health system offered a wide range of primary and specialized healthcare services for patients with a coordinated and convenient continuum of care. The integration, an industry standard, contained and maintained quality, a core mission of the health system.

The expansion and renovation of the Emergency Department was completed in 2010 and added a new ambulance garage to the hospital, able to hold up to six emergency vehicles. Already one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Wisconsin, the expansion came at the right time with 27 treatment rooms and a second trauma room equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. Separate areas for minor illnesses were designed in a Fast Track area alongside the general treatment rooms.

Beloit Health System formed a stronger alliance with the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and opened the free-standing UW Cancer Center in 2014. This collaboration brought all cancer services under one roof and continued Beloit’s relationship with the UW Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

The merger between Beloit Health System and Beloit Regional Hospice in 2016 solidified a long-standing partnership between the two organizations and further advanced compassionate, high-quality care for those with life-limiting illnesses in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.

The Hendricks Family Heart Hospital, located on the hospital’s fourth floor, opened in 2017 and raised the bar for cardiac care in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Named after the Hendricks Family, who generously donated the largest gift ever given to Beloit Health System of $3 million, the heart hospital within a hospital had a total cost of $13.8 million dollars. The Hendricks Family Heart Hospital featured a new Hybrid Dual Cath Lab and Operating Suite, one of only three in Wisconsin and the first in the region.

In the 50-plus-year history of Beloit Memorial Hospital, not much changed in the pediatric care unit. That is why in 2019 updates began on second floor and completed in 2021. The unit, named after Jim and Nancy Packard who jump started the renovations with a $1 million donation, became the Packard Family Care Center. Along with a generous $1 million gift from the Hendricks Family Foundation, improvements included four new birthing rooms, a new nursery, a patient and family waiting room and expanded patient rooms. An exciting feature of the center is the Donor Wall, a one-of-a-kind piece of art reflecting photographs of donors, doctors, and Beloit Health System patients. The lights behind the tiles turn pink when a baby girl is born and blue for a boy. In the last five decades, about 40,000 babies have been born at the hospital.

Work is currently underway for a Freestanding Birth Center on the NorthPointe Health and Wellness Campus in Roscoe, Illinois. The Freestanding Birth Center is a healthcare facility that will use an alternative care model to provide services during pregnancy, labor/delivery, and postpartum care. It will provide a safe, alternative model of patient care that focuses on a natural birth center where low risk patients can give birth in a natural setting. Wellness is the primary focus and is in alignment and complementary to the NorthPointe Health and Wellness Campus. Additionally, the center will provide another avenue for meeting needs of underserved clientele.

Although we are very proud of our facilities and campus, it is really the people who have made the biggest impression. The physicians, staff and volunteers have been the real reason people continue to place their most precious asset, their health, in our trust.

As was the mission in 1970 and still is today– Beloit Health System’s goal is to deliver the highest quality medical services and improve the overall health status of the community. We strive to do this at an economic value and with the highest level of patient satisfaction.