Your Daily Guide

Safety-Net Hospitals on Brink in Chicago

West Suburban Medical Center, a safety-net hospital in Oak Park, began temporarily shutting down Friday. Other hospitals for low-income Illinoisans are under threat, too.

Safety-net hospitals: Safety-net hospitals provide care to Medicaid patients, plus uninsured and other vulnerable patients, so Medicaid cuts jeopardize their ability to stay open. Due to federal cuts passed over the summer, up to 400,000 Illinoisans could lose coverage by 2028.

• In Chicagoland: As of August, 70% of inpatients at Sinai Chicago were Medicaid patients. Holy Cross and Schwab Rehabilitation hospitals received more than 93% of revenue from Medicaid and Medicare. While not a safety- net hospital, the University of Chicago Medical Center received the most Medicaid revenue in 2024: $679.8 million.

What’s happening at West Suburban? Due to a billing system issue, West Suburban Medical Center has closed temporarily, with most workers put on leave. The news comes following complaints about hospital management and parent company Resilience Healthcare, which acquired West Suburban in 2022 as part of a package deal that included Weiss Hospital.

• A potential lifeline: One West Suburban co-owner says he’s in talks with the company running Insight Hospital and Medical Center about a plan to “reboot” West Suburban.
• Sound familiar? Weiss Hospital, in Uptown, closed in August after losing access to Medicare and Medicaid funding over noncompliance with federal regulations.

Other issues at safety-net hospitals: Other local hospitals are struggling outside of recent federal cuts.

• In Portage Park: Community First Medical Center, a for-profit safety-net hospital, struggles with structural damage, flooding, broken elevators, and supply shortages — despite receiving tens of millions in taxpayer-funded grants. Neighbors call Community First the “Death Hospital.”
• In Austin: A fugitive ex-exec of Loretto Hospital, another West Side safety-net hospital, was recently arrested in Serbia. He’s accused of embezzling millions from the hospital and defrauding the federal government for $300 million. Loretto is now bracing for a flood of patients due to the West Suburban closure.