After selection of a site in Kankakee, three trustees were appointed by the Governor to supervise planning and construction, choose a superintendent, and operate the hospital, subject to inspection by the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities.

[1] The hospital opened on September 4, 1879, and began to operate a training school for nurses in 1886.

[2][3] All other patients were transferred to other mental health facilities and the institution became the Shapiro Developmental Center.

[5] The Shapiro Center was generating and submitting to the state treasury, 65% of its total operational costs.

This is a result of having a central steam plant for building heating, and it is typical of hospitals constructed under the Kirkbride Plan.