Behind the scenes of The Bear filming at Endeavor Health Skokie Hospital

While they didn’t call each other “Chef,” the Endeavor Health Skokie Hospital operations team worked together like a seasoned brigade de cuisine to prepare for the massive influx of people and equipment, while always keeping patient experience and care as the top priority.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at how it happened.

Mise en place (meal prep)

Kelly Miroslaw, director of perioperative surgery at Skokie Hospital, was the first point of contact for the production company. She previously worked with the film crew that shot Endeavor Health’s new brand commercials at the hospital, so she was familiar with the production process.

She gave the show’s location scouting team a preliminary tour in early January of this year.

“The group that came from the locations team asked if they could bring their producers to take a look,” Miroslaw said. “They were quick to say they loved our campus and were very interested in shooting here.”

But before the show’s entire film crew of more than 200 arrived on campus with seven semitrailers full of equipment and four huge Condor cranes, the Endeavor team did some serious strategizing.

First, they needed to know what spaces the film crew would want to use and the timing of the filming. “Once we understood what the script looked like and what departments they were hoping for, we started branching out and including our leaders on how we might make this work while minimizing the impact on our patients,” Miroslaw said.

Much of the logistical work fell to Chris Wheeler, Endeavor Health Skokie facilities manager, and his team.

“We helped identify pathways through the hospital that wouldn’t impact patient satisfaction,” Wheeler said. “That was critical, whether that meant using back hallways or the basement or shutting down elevators so there wasn’t a struggle between the film crew and patients trying to get to their appointments.”

There was also security to consider, both for the hospital staff and patients, and the film crew toting in expensive equipment and famous actors, without disrupting patient care.

For Connor Bostedt, who was operations manager for Skokie Hospital at the time and is now head of security for Endeavor Health’s North region, tasks centered around how to accomplish the massive undertaking, while keeping everyone on campus secure: patients, staff and film crew.

“How do we get all these people in and out safely? How do we get all these trucks and everything onto our property and do it in a way that doesn’t put any one’s life in danger?” he said. “We needed to make sure everyone had escorts and that patients didn’t get near them. We helped safeguard millions of dollars of equipment and coordinated with their security team to make sure everything was secure.”

The script called for several different storylines, including one in labor and delivery. One immediate challenge: Skokie is a dedicated orthopaedic hospital, and the scene called for a mother-baby care facility. So, Endeavor’s team looked to its other campuses, and brought in everything needed to stage an ortho patient room as a legit labor and delivery patient suite.

The Endeavor crew set everything up to give the show’s production company the greatest ability to make the scene look and feel real.

“We wanted to make the room look like it would look at Evanston and Highland Park,” said Maria Villanueva, director of nursing for maternal child health and perinatal safety at Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital and Highland Park.

“We brought in a new labor bed, a yoga birthing ball, machines, fetal monitors and sterile instruments as well as things for the baby, a baby scale, baby warmer, baby blankets and gowns,” Villanueva said. “We took a picture and video of one of the labor and delivery rooms and said that’s what we want the Skokie room to look like. We wanted to make sure we represented our service line as accurately as possible.”

“Also, I love the show, so I was really invested. They’re coming to Endeavor, so we want to make sure it looked really good,” Villanueva added.

Gail Leiter, clinical manager of Highland Park Hospital’s labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum, helped stage the labor and delivery room. She said the amount of work that went into creating an authentic set was an eye-opening experience.

“I was in nursing school when [the show] ER was big, and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s not realistic,’” she said. “Going into this I wanted it to look as realistic as possible. Then I realized, wow, there’s actually a lot that goes into this that we don’t realize. It was a very cool experience.”

Leiter made sure they had every detail of the room right, down to pacifiers and extra baby bottles.

Endeavor’s safe, seamless, personal mantra carried every step of the preparation, inspiring the drive for authenticity on camera as well as to maintain the hospital’s top-rated patient experience.

“There was so much time and effort and worry that went into how this would impact patient experience and loyalty. There were so many people focused on patient care and satisfaction,” Miroslaw said.

Le plat principal (main dish)

They filmed the show over three days in several locations within Skokie Hospital, but the production company needed more space than just the filming stages. Staff spent a lot of time moving delivery trucks and equipment off loading docks. There was a staging area in the parking lot with food service trucks. Conference rooms held food and beverage service and wardrobe space, as well as serving as holding areas for cast, crew, props and more.

“I had never seen anything like it. I was thinking, ‘This is absolutely insane,’” Wheeler said. “At the same time, it was impressive how quickly and efficiently they moved things and got their stuff out of there as if they were never there.

Everyone on their crew took care of a specific cart, everything was loaded in and out in an hour.”

They filmed the show on the hospital’s fourth floor, where just half the unit was open and delivering care, with the TV crew working on the side that was not being used. 

“That’s also where we stored a lot of their equipment,” said Miroslaw, since it was closed already. “We specifically targeted that space because we don’t do patient care in that area. We also used our PACU west, which is a space that had patient care happening, but we closed it and minimized its use during that time.”

Wheeler handled things like temperature control — making sure spaces didn’t get too stuffy when hundreds of crew members filed in and that the sound of AC didn’t interfere with the microphones — as well as preventing any issues with lighting and mechanics.

“There were times they needed ladders, or they randomly wanted a bathroom door removed,” Wheeler said. “We had to figure it out on the fly. My team did an excellent job responding quickly, effectively and efficiently to accommodate what they needed.”

The film crew painstakingly perfected each shot, with many special requests that the Endeavor team handled.

“They were doing everything from having to dim lights in the parking lot so it wouldn’t look too bright, putting film over the windows so the light would be more diffuse, adding extra shine to the floors,” said Alexis Barbour, vice president of operations at the hospital. “The amount of detail was amazing.”

Wheeler said the film crew’s focus was striking, making what could have been a chaotic experience controlled, calm and welcoming to patients and staff.

“When they need it quiet, it’s impressive how fast everyone stops talking,” he said. “People would be chatting but when they say, ‘Rolling,’ it’s instantly quiet.”

The film team’s respect for the Endeavor workplace also made an impression, Wheeler said.

“They were willing to fix something immediately,” he said. “For example, if we said we need to move something because it’s blocking an exit or a fire extinguisher, it was immediately done. They were open to it, asked questions before they did things. They were very considerate.”

The crew filmed one scene in the hospital’s surgery waiting area, and Endeavor staff helped detour patients and visitors that needed to get through the area. Despite the modifications, patients were generally curious and amenable, staff said.

The Endeavor team learned no amount of detailed planning could circumvent the need to be nimble. There were some quick changes of plan they just had to roll with.

“We had this plan of this is how we’re going to do this, and everyone was on board, but near the end we were basically freestyling it,” Bostedt said. “We were going to do this parking lot scene nice and early in the morning and were told it would take an hour or two, then the day before they said we’re changing that to 3 p.m. Now I have shut down a parking lot the entire day and find places for patients to park.”

The Endeavor team coordinated with the Skokie Police Department and the village of Skokie, even bringing in police to help with traffic control. The team also needed to ensure fire lanes stayed open and that ambulances had the same access to the hospital throughout the three days of filming.

“I was so proud of our ability to do this huge undertaking and have it not reflect in a negative way,” Miroslaw said. “There may have been patients who had to walk in a different direction or wait for an elevator and we were right there, making sure they had a quality, safe experience.”

Le dessert (dessert)

From face-to-face interactions with famous actors to learning more about fellow team members, the experience had a positive impact on the Endeavor Health team.

The long days — sometimes from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. — felt exciting.

The team dressed for the task, in Endeavor fleeces and running shoes, Barbour said.

“That was my favorite part of it. Working these insanely long hours, you’re tired and everyone’s pitching in, but you feel like you’re part of something special and bigger and different than what you do for your day-to-day,” Barbour said.

“I loved seeing how all our leaders were excited to do something different. To show off their departments and the great work we do. It was fun to see the excitement. No one was like, ‘Oh man, this is an insane amount of work.’”

Jamie Lee Curtis had dinner with the crew and Endeavor team one night, and asked everyone to wear nametags so she could address each person by name, they said.

“I met all the actors; they are such nice people. Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the nicest people you will ever meet,” Bostedt said. “In my role I’ve met a few celebrities over the last few years. We’ve had athletes and politicians come in and have worked with their security teams. The Bear actors were some of the most down to earth people you could ever work with. They were great.”

“From a marketing standpoint, it was a great opportunity to showcase the beauty, quality care and warmth of Endeavor Health Skokie Hospital to the world,” said Kim Caviness, Endeavor Health Marketing Team system design and content director, who worked hand in glove with the Skokie team from the very first The Bear scout.

The production timing was fortuitous, offering the first opportunity to showcase the hospital system’s brand-new name to the world of viewers watching The Bear.

“We were even able to arrange for a prototype of the new Endeavor Health monument signs to be specially trucked in so that it could make its debut in an exterior scene,” Caviness said. “It was the world premiere of our new signage. That was a thrill.”

The scheduled, safety-oriented dynamics of healthcare was able to coexist with the artistic, flowing dynamics of the film industry, reported Miroslaw, providing a beneficial learning experience for the team.

“From a hospital perspective, a lot of what we learned from this we could use to help us with emergency preparedness,” Miroslaw said.

“It was crazy, it was chaotic. It was fun,” Bostedt said. “This showed what Skokie’s team can accomplish together. There’s really no situation that could come up that I don’t think we could handle.”

The shoot created a fun buzz on campus and gave the Endeavor team something special to look forward to.

“They’re trying to feature Chicago at its best, and we’re part of that fabric, we’re part of that community,” Barbour said. “I definitely consider myself a fan of the show, even more so now. I’d say overall the energy of the shoot and the professionalism of The Bear team made it an enjoyable experience for all of us.”

Tune into season 3 of The Bear to see Endeavor Health Skokie Hospital’s starring role in this hit series.