* Crain’s…
Two shuttered Chicago-area hospitals have a new operator — and a potential path toward reopening — after a months-long court fight over the failed hospital system ended in a settlement late Wednesday.
Ramco Healthcare Holdings, landlord of Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, will buy out Resilience Healthcare and take control of the hospitals effective today, working with Insight Health Systems, according to a spokesman for Ramco and Insight.
The agreement ends months of wrangling between Ramco and Resilience over control of the hospitals, both of which remain closed. Details of the settlement were not released.
* Tribune…
Even with the agreement in place a number of obstacles remain to reopening the hospitals, including Weiss’ recent loss of its state hospital license and its inability to collect Medicare payments. […]
Some have also expressed concern about Insight stepping in to operate the hospitals. Insight runs Insight Hospital and Medical Center in the Bronzeville neighborhood, formerly called Mercy Hospital. Insight bought Mercy for $1 in 2021, when Mercy was on the brink of closure. […]
Insight President and CEO Atif Bawahab said at a recent town hall meeting that Insight would be happy to play a role in helping to reopen West Suburban. “We want to build an institution that will not just survive but also thrive,” Bawahab said at the event.
But a group that includes former West Suburban doctors called the West Suburban Medical Center Medical Executive Committee and Chicago Medical Society Task force recently voted that they have “no confidence” in Insight as the proposed operator of the hospital. That group said in its vote that it has “significant concerns regarding Insight Health System’s ability to provide the transparency, accountability, physician collaboration and community involvement necessary to successfully reopen and sustain West Suburban Medical Center.”
Also, Insight has faced its own financial struggles. As of February, Insight owed more than $48 million to the state in loan money and was not in compliance with the terms of its repayment agreement, according to information obtained from the state through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2024, the hospital’s expenses exceeded its revenue by nearly $29 million, according to tax forms.
* ABC Chicago…
Community leaders welcomed the deal but said their work is not finished.
“This fight, though it was big, there’s a bigger picture ahead. And our communities need these hospitals. Safety-net hospitals, Medicare, Medicaid, black and brown communities, people that work for minimum wage, those are the people that go to these hospitals,” said Rev. Robin Hood.
While advocates praised the agreement as a significant step forward, they emphasized that reopening the hospitals is not yet imminent. They said they hope to establish a public timeline for reopening efforts and to hold all parties accountable as the transition moves forward.
* More…
