Mission + History

Oak Point Provides Real-World Nursing and Radiography Education

We are committed to helping students gain the healthcare education they need to build successful nursing and radiography careers. It’s a commitment that started more than 100 years ago.

Image of West Suburban Hospital School from a 1924 yearbook

Our Core Statements

The guideposts for our future are clearly articulated in our core statements—our purpose, mission, value, and vision statements—authored by the Oak Point community. 

Our Purpose

Creating a healthy tomorrow.

Our Mission

Oak Point University inspires, educates and forms life-long learners who meet the world’s changing needs with curiosity, ingenuity and grace.

Our Value Statement

As a student-focused University, we value human dignity, diversity and expanding personal potential to its fullest capacity. In all of our work and encounters, we demonstrate personal, professional and academic excellence.

Our Vision

Inspiring and leading a learning community that thinks critically, embraces change and explores new ways of delivering higher education by:

  • discovering knowledge and developing skills that exceed the demands of dynamic learners and the ever-changing world around us;
  • revolutionizing learning through the delivery of education and student services that stand out from the rest; and
  • transforming the lives of our students, peers and our community.

All members of our community must embody these values, hold each other accountable for them, and not tolerate behaviors that disregard them.

Our History + Tradition

Milestones Through the Years

Image of West Suburban Hospital School from a 1924 yearbook
1912

Construction Begins

Construction begins on West Suburban Hospital with a mission to “establish and maintain a hospital and dispensary for the care of the sick and injured, to provide educational facilities to medical students, and to establish and maintain a training school for nurses.”

Nurses graduating at West Suburban Hospital for Nurses
1914

West Suburban Hospital School for Nurses Opens

West Suburban Hospital School for Nurses opens its doors for the first time. Our reputation grows with each graduating class.

Nurses sitting on a suitcases looking at a map
1946

We Enter Into an Affiliation with Wheaton College

We enter into an affiliation with Wheaton College. In the 1950s, more than fifty percent of the missionary nurses serving across the United States and in foreign countries are graduates of the West Suburban Hospital School for Nurses and the Wheaton program.

Nursing students at West Suburban Hospital School of Nursing
1953

Our Name Changes to the West Suburban Hospital School of Nursing

Our name changes to the West Suburban Hospital School of Nursing.

Students in Concordia-West Suburban College of Nursing t-shirts
1985

We Enter Into an Affiliation with Concordia College

We enter into an affiliation with Concordia College in River Forest, and our name changes to Concordia-West Suburban College of Nursing. We are now a single-purpose, degree-granting college of nursing. Our model is the first in Illinois and one of the first in the nation.

2003

Our Name Changes to the West Suburban College of Nursing

The Concordia affiliation ends, and our name changes to West Suburban College of Nursing.

2004

Resurrection Health Care Purchases Our School

Resurrection Health Care (RHC) purchases West Suburban Medical Center, our school, and Westlake Medical Center.

2010

We Become Resurrection University

RHC sells the two medical centers while our College of Nursing remains a part of the Resurrection Health Care system. With the addition of a College of Allied Health, we become Resurrection University (ResU).

2013

We Move to a New Home in Wicker Park

After 98 years in Oak Park, we move to a new home in the heart of Chicago’s historic Wicker Park neighborhood located in Presence Saint Elizabeth Hospital (now Ascension Saint Elizabeth Hospital).

2014

We’re 100!

The University celebrated 100 years of educating healthcare students with a centennial celebration.

2015

We Welcome the Saint Francis School of Radiography

We welcome the Saint Francis School of Radiography into our College of Allied Health.

Dr. Therese A. Scanlan Is Appointed President
2016

Dr. Therese A. Scanlan Is Appointed President

Dr. Therese A. Scanlan is appointed President by the Board of Directors. She served as Interim President from March through June 2016 and as COO and CFO, where she led many governance, legal, construction, and financial initiatives through the University’s enormous period of growth.

2018

Our College of Allied Health Becomes the College of Health Sciences

Our College of Allied Health becomes the College of Health Sciences.

Oak Point University Oak Brook Campus
2021

We Change Our Name to Oak Point University, Open a Second Campus, and Add Two Programs

We become an independent university, changing our name to Oak Point University. We launch our new brand and celebrate the opening of our Oak Brook campus in the fall, followed by the launch of our Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP and Psychiatric-Mental Health NP MSN and Post-Graduate Certificate programs.

2022

We Launch Our Partner Solutions Career Accelerator Program

Our Partner Solutions Career Accelerator Program launches its first Medical Assistant and Certified Nursing Assistant cohorts.

2022

425+ Nominations Received

In our inaugural Calling All #BadassNurses Contest.

Did You Know? Fun Facts About Oak Point.

Our Student Choir Recorded Albums and Toured

In addition to performing at University functions and public events, the choir toured during breaks and recorded several albums featuring original songs. Some of their songs received airtime on local radio.

Laerdal SimMan 3G

Our Simulation Center recieived the first SimMan 3G in the state of Illinois.

By the Numbers

Through the Years

425+

Contest Nominations Received

For our inaugural 2022 Calling All #BadassNurses Contest

109

Years Educating Healthcare Workers

We’re closing in on our 110th anniversary.

7

Prior Variations of Our Name

As affiliations were created and dissolved.

From This Point Forward, You Own Your Future