The Hinsdale and La Grange Memorial hospital foundations received a $2.4 million donation from a longtime Hinsdale family, which will go toward medical care for thousands of west suburban residents.
Representatives from the hospital group called the gift transformational, but said officials have yet to decide exactly what to do with the windfall.
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The gift, announced in July, comes from the estate of Dorothy V. Clarke and Kenton H. Clarke Jr., a longtime Hinsdale family. Their son, Irving Vant Clarke, a World War II veteran and longtime member of Union Church of Hinsdale died in the area in 2024, according to his obituary. Clarke was on the board of the Robert Crown Center for Health Education in Chicago, his obituary stated, but it makes no mention of any involvement with the Hinsdale Hospital Foundation.
UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale CEO Elise MacCarroll-Wright said she had a good guess about the connection between the Clarke family that resulted in the large donation.
“I think it shows how much our hospital and the care we provide mean to the community,” she said.
The Hinsdale hospital serves about 12,000 inpatients a year and gets 22,000 ER visits annually, and the La Grange hospital gets about that same number.
“We deliver over 150 babies a month and we continue to grow,” MacCarroll-Wright said. “It’s just a very comprehensive robust community hospital.”
Besides the day-to-day care for residents, the hospitals offer specialized facilities for cardiac, stroke and a cancer institute. In addition, the Hinsdale hospital is planning to expand its GI program in August. MacCarroll-Wright said any of these things could benefit from part of that $2.4 million.
“We’re in the process, we’re looking at what we’re going to use these funds for we haven’t decided yet,” she said. “This obviously gives us options to continue to provide whole person care.”
While the exact destination of the investment is unknown, MacCarroll-Wright said its impact already is realized. The CEO has spent decades with AdventHealth, though she’s only been with the Hinsdale hospital for seven months and she immediately felt how much the community loves the hospital.
“This is just another one of those things that, as a CEO, I have to pinch myself about,” she said. MacCarroll-Wright explained that the donation reflects a love that’s come from quality community service and a commitment to the Hinsdale and La Grange areas.
“It’s just a testament to the history of this hospital that blows me away,” she said. “It’s a special thing, it’s a very special thing.”
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.