* The Heartland Alliance is integral to the region’s social service delivery system. From the Tribune…

One of the city’s leading social service organizations, beset by a pair of financial crises that last year engulfed its housing and health care divisions, could be on the verge of splitting up.

The turmoil at the Heartland Alliance, a sprawling nonprofit encompassing five divisions providing a vast array of social services, threatens to upend important safety net programs at a time when Chicago is experiencing an influx of migrants, many of whom need help with health care and housing.

Heartland Alliance’s housing division, which grappled with inflation and declining rent collections during the pandemic, ceased operations last spring and needs buyers for the roughly 1,000 affordable units it operated in Chicago and Wisconsin.

Heartland’s health division, struggling to cover escalating health costs and expenses associated with a surge of migrants in its shelters, indefinitely furloughed more than 150 employees between September and November and cut back programming. It’s now considering spinning off into an independent organization, according to a written statement from Mary Kay Gilbert, interim executive director of Heartland Alliance Health, and Chief External Affairs Officer Ed Stellon. Health care centers in Englewood, Uptown and the Near West Side remain open. […]

Founded in the 19th century as Travelers and Immigrants Aid by legendary reformer Jane Addams, Heartland Alliance’s five divisions employed about 1,700 by 2021 and served up to 500,000 people annually.

Go read the rest.

* WBEZ…

Dozens of employees are taking a 20% pay cut at Alivio Medical Center, a key health care provider for migrants and asylum seekers on the West Side.

Those getting their hours reduced from 40 to 32 a week range from executives to medical assistants, nurses and front-desk staff, spokeswoman Terri Rivera said in a recent interview. She has since left Alivio. Doctors were spared from the cut so they can take care of more patients to generate more revenue, Rivera said, though they could be trying to do so with less help. For example, she said a medical assistant now might share their time between two doctors instead of one.

“No services have changed or hours changed,” Rivera emphasized.

She added that no one has been laid off, but also confirmed some employees have quit over the furloughs. She would not say how many total people have been furloughed, but said Alivio still has about 250 employees across seven clinics. […]

Like many community health centers, Alivio treats a large portion of low-income and uninsured patients. On its website, Alivio harkens back to why the health center was founded in 1989: to fill a void by providing medical care for an underserved population of immigrants in the Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards neighborhoods. Historically these patients have had little access to medical care given language and cultural barriers and fear of seeking medical care because of their immigration status, Alivio explained.

Lately, many migrants arriving in Chicago have come to rely on Alivio’s clinic in Pilsen. This area is home to the largest city-run shelter where about 2,500 people are staying. As of Jan. 19, about half were children, according to data shared by the city. […]

And compared with other community health centers, Alivio is reimbursed far less for the behavioral health care it provides to low-income or disabled patients who have Medicaid health insurance, data show. This year, Alivio is getting paid back about $54 per visit — the lowest reimbursement rate for community health centers in the state. Other clinics are paid back between $72 to $83 per visit.

* Sun-Times…

Two of Chicago’s largest medical groups laid off employees Thursday, citing money troubles.

University of Chicago Medical Center officials say the hospital is facing the “same challenges” other health systems have, which led to the 180 layoffs.

“The fact is many outside pressures including higher supply and labor costs are converging as healthcare delivery rapidly evolves,” president Tom Jackiewicz and Mark Anderson, executive vice president of medical affairs, wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday. “Additionally, we grew our staff to address the pandemic, which was necessary for that moment but cannot be maintained.”

Laid-off employees, about 2% of the medical center’s staff, were given severance packages, U. of C. representatives said in a written statement: “The majority of affected positions are not direct patient facing, and these changes will not affect the quality of patient care.”

* Meanwhile…

After five days, Lurie Children’s Hospital says it’s still actively responding to a cyber security attack.

Lurie Children’s Hospital is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate a system-wide network outage.

The cyberattack started last Wednesday. Computers, internet and phones remain all offline, making it difficult for patient families to access important medical information.

…Adding… Press release…

State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, is reacting with outrage after Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan had its trauma center designation revoked on Friday, following the failure of its owners to properly manage it.

“Waukegan is a low-income, working-class community that is now without a trauma center hospital,” Mayfield said. “This is a huge problem in terms of equitable access to care no matter what the reason. But for this to be happening because a company bought a hospital only to almost immediately allow it to fall into insolvency—to the point where there is no budget and doctors and staff are not being paid—is outrageous.”

Licensing examiners conducted an on-site investigation of Vista on Jan. 29, finding that, among other things, Vista had no written budget, and that staff—including physicians and specialists—either had not been paid in months or had seen their payroll checks returned for insufficient funds. A report by the Lake County Coroner indicated that this was a primary reason behind an exodus of staff which led in turn to Vista no longer meeting the criteria to remain a trauma center.

Losing trauma center designation means that Vista can only treat minor injuries, with more seriously injured patients needing to be transferred to other hospitals. Vista also is now no longer eligible to participate as a hospital in the Medicare program.

After two other changes in ownership over the last five years, Vista was purchased by American Healthcare Systems, a for-profit company, in July 2023.

“Waukegan needs its hospital to remain open, fully staffed and fully operational. Waukegan families need and deserve access to the same basic services as does every other community in Illinois,” Mayfield said. “American Health Systems and Vista Hospital have an obligation to swiftly and completely get their house in order and address these issues. If they can’t do it, then they should step aside so that someone else can. Continued neglect and failure at the expense of Waukegan families is unacceptable.”

…Adding… Peoria Journal Star…

Two lenders are alleging Petersen Health Care failed to repay a total of nearly $51 million in loans.

Seventeen health care facilities owned by the Peoria-based company are part of the loan foreclosure proceedings in two separate court cases.

Two facilities are in the Peoria area: Timbercreek Rehab & Health Care in Pekin, and Fondulac Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in East Peoria. One facility is in Missouri and the rest are located across Illinois, including in Canton, Galesburg, Kewanee and Monmouth.