UpdatedThu, Feb 11, 2021 at 10:57 am CT
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The owners of Mercy Hospital Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Google Maps)
CHICAGO The historic Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago s Bronzeville neighborhood filed for bankruptcy Wednesday. Chicago s oldest hospital, now owned by Michigan-based Trinity Health, plans to shutter most operations at the end of May.
The Chapter 11 filing follows Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board rulings that rejected Trinity s plans to close Mercy s 412-bed hospital at 2525 S. Michigan Ave. and open an outpatient Mercy Care Center about two miles away at 3753 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Trinity s board authorized the filing in a Feb. 5 resolution that said Mercy s leadership had tried to put in place a planned clinical transformation plan but has been unable to and does not anticipate being able to do so in the future, Bloomberg reported.
State Board Rejects Plans for Mercy Hospital Outpatient Center
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board denied Trinity Health’s plans to open a new outpatient center. Local politicians and activists see the plan as part of Trinity’s attempt to close Mercy. By
On Tuesday, January 26
th, the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board rejected an application by Mercy Hospital’s parent company, Trinity Health, to open an outpatient center on the South Side.
The $13 million outpatient center is part of a bid by Trinity to close Mercy Hospital, which has served Bronzeville and the greater South Side for over a century.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted Tuesday morning during a virtual meeting Tuesday morning.
Trinity Health had applied with the state to open Mercy as an outpatient clinic.
Under its $13 million proposal, the clinic would have provided the neighborhood with services like urgent care, x-rays and CT scans.
Community activists say turning the hospital into clinic would negatively impact the health of the surrounding neighborhood.
The same board sided with community members back in December when it unanimously voted to deny Trinity s application to close Mercy this year.
The Bronzeville neighborhood hospital and Chicago s oldest, serves mostly low-income residents, the elderly and people of color.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file
Trinity Health’s proposal to open an urgent care and diagnostic center on the South Side was rejected Tuesday by a state review board, the company’s second loss in about six weeks.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted 3-2 Tuesday to deny approval for Trinity Health’s planned $13 million Mercy Care Center at 3753 S. Cottage Grove Ave. The same board unanimously rejected Trinity Health’s plan to close Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville after a hearing Dec. 15.
“We are disappointed with the initial decision by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board and are evaluating our options to open an outpatient center on Chicago’s South Side,” Trinity Health said in a statement issued after the hearing.