Morris Kurtzon

Who is Morris Kurtzon?

Morris Kurtzon was the president and founder of Mount Sinai Hospital of Chicago from its inception in 1919 until 1945. Mount Sinai was a hospital founded to help the disadvantaged eastern European Jews of Chicago. Kurtzon sought to provide the West Side community in Chicago a hospital where Jewish doctors could practice without prejudicial practices excluding them.

Kurtzon bought the bankrupt Maimonides Hospital, reorganizing it under the name Mt. Sinai Hospital Association. He refused an offer to sell the property to the University of Illinois, preferring to donate it to the entire community. The community responded to this gesture with an effort to create financial support for the new hospital.

Although women had not traditionally been allowed to fully participate in many communities, Mt. Sinai included many women among its supporters.

Kurtzon devoted much of his time to planning and designing the facility. The final hospital plans were done by architects Schmidt, Garden and Ericksen.

Kurtzon was vice president of the Chicago Platers Union in 1890 and founded Garden City Plating & Manufacturing in 1898. GARCY designed custom equipment for the new hospital, much of it made of stainless steel. GARCY became Morris Kurtzon, Inc. after 1948 and then Kurtzon Lighting, which is still owned and operated by family members.