American Hospital Supply Corp. descended from a hospital supply distribution company and was incorporated in 1922 in Illinois by Foster G. McGaw. It came to dominate its industry in the 1930s and '40s by changing the way hospital supplies were marketed. Eventually distributing both its own supplies and those of other companies to 19 of 20 hospitals in America, the company manufactured a range of products from intravenous solutions to uniforms. Its sales grew from $65 million in 1956 to nearly $200 million by 1965, at which time it was based in Evanston and had 6,200 employees nationwide. By the early 1970s, the company employed 2,500 workers locally. American Hospital Supply's sales revenue grew from $2 billion in 1979 to more than $3.4 billion in 1984. The next year, competitor Baxter Travenol Laboratories, a firm whose supplies American Hospital once distributed, acquired the company. In 1995, Baxter spun off its low-tech hospital supply division as an independent company, called Allegiance Corp. Allegiance was subsequently purchased by Cardinal Health Inc. of Ohio in 1998. See also Baxter Travenol Laboratories Inc.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.