Abandoned Illinois Medical Center with Needles, a Wrecked Pharmacy and Rooms of Supplies

You see the trees before anything else. They’re growing inside this medical center in Illinois, right at the entrance, with water dripping and wires laying around everywhere and paint peeling off the walls. The ceiling has caved in at multiple spots, so I tried to stay a little quiet.

It’s massive, with lots of rooms, and a lot of supplies are still in it. The exact location stays off this page. The description lists a nurse station, kids pictures on the walls, chairs missing legs, needles everywhere and holes in the roof, and all of that is in here.

What we found

The first rooms still had their tables, some chairs and cabinets. You have to be really careful, because there are needles everywhere.

The names of the medical doctors are still on the walls or doors. There are medicine bottles, and there are pictures of kids along one wall, like babies. Then there’s the room that’s one of my favorites, with old chairs that are all missing legs, just sitting there.

The pharmacy is next. People destroyed it, though some of the damage is just weather. As you can tell, the place is not in the best condition, and I said it looks pretty sad. People have looked everywhere in this building.

There’s a lot of dust on the pads that go down on the exam tables, almost like a bed. Posters are still hung up, including one of the muscular system. Another room has patient tables, and one room has a whole bucket of needles.

After a dark room we got to the X ray department, and I did not find any X ray equipment. Further on were pamphlets about living with allergies and baby safety tips, and some special reports. I said it’s so cool yet so gross at the same time, and that I couldn’t believe so much stuff was just left behind.

I told everyone there was something pretty cool near the end and to remember where it was. First came the nurse station, which is absolutely stocked full of stuff. The weather did a number on the rooms in between, with insulation and drywall and doors all over the floor, and more bathrooms and more tables.

Then I got to what I think is the best part of the whole place. A sign tells you to put on your gown and shoe covers before entering surgery. After that is a piece of hospital supply equipment that looked like it was for blood, although I wasn’t sure. Through there is an entire back room, stocked full. It had syringes, including new ones, and gowns.

My flashlight shut off because it was overheating, so that’s where I stopped. It’s pretty cool, and also very gross.

Why places like this end up empty

I don’t know why this medical center closed. What I can point to is how long a closed medical campus can sit once nobody wants it. The Tinley Park Mental Health Center near Chicago closed in 2012 when the state shut it to cut costs. By January 2025 it had been empty for about 13 years. Asbestos and high mercury levels were found in it, and costly water leaks turned the site into a mosquito breeding ground.

The park district ended up buying the 280 acre site from the state for $1, and it secured $15 million in state money for cleanup. Demolition was expected to run through the end of 2025. That building isn’t this one, but it shows the shape of the problem. A closed medical building is cheap to buy and expensive to clean up.

Weather finishes the job. The EPA says wet buildings need to be dried within 24 to 48 hours to avoid mold, and that mold grows on materials like wood, paper, carpet and insulation. Holes in the roof mean none of that happens. It fits the insulation and drywall we walked across.