MetroSouth Medical Center will close by end of year if no buyer is found: owner

MetroSouth Medical Center has filed with the state to close by the end of the year if no one offers to buy the struggling south suburban hospital.

The Blue Island facility has failed to find a buyer after two years of reaching out to almost 40 health care organizations, the hospital’s owners said in a statement Tuesday.

“Closing the hospital is an immensely difficult and emotional decision, but the data is clear that patient needs have changed – here and across the country,” MetroSouth Medical Center CEO John Walsh said a statement.

MetroSouth would be the second Chicago-area hospital to attempt to close this year. In April, Westlake Hospital initially was given permission by the state to cease operations, though it remains open pending the ongoing legal struggle between its new owners, Pipeline Health, and the Village of Melrose Park.

MetroSouth has seen years of decreasing patient volumes, increased competition, reduced government reimbursement and ongoing operational losses, according to the statement. The hospital has 314 beds but serves on average fewer than 100 patients a day.

The hospital said it lost $8.4 million in 2018 and expects to lose more than $10 million in 2019.

No buyers have committed to operate MetroSouth as a full-service hospital, but discussions continue to reuse the medical center as a freestanding emergency department and outpatient services center, according to the statement.

State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, serves on the hospital’s board and said he learned of the planned closure Tuesday morning.

“I’m very concerned. This could be very devastating to Blue Island and the surrounding communities,” Rita told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Rita said he met MetroSouth’s new CEO for the first time Tuesday.

“I found him standing outside my office [at the hospital] and I asked, ‘Who’s this?” Rita said. “He said he started yesterday. I asked where’s [former CEO] John Baird?”

Rita said the new CEO does not understand the importance of MetroSouth to the community.

“I’m going to continue to work with every entity with state and local officials to keep this a full-service hospital,” he said.

Another hospital board member, Kevin McDermott, said it was “unfortunate” that MetroSouth’s parent company took such an “immediate drastic action.”

“They in essence devalued the worth of the hospital to their providers and community,” McDermott said.

Cook County Commissioner Deborah Sims said she was looking for ways to preserve services at the hospital and was speaking with Cook County Health and Hospital CEO Dr. John Shannon about the matter.

“Hospitals across the country are closing their doors, but smart, forward-thinking communities are finding ways to preserve services and enhance access to care for their residents,” Sims said in a statement.

If negotiations with potential operators fail, the hospital will begin to reduce admissions and wind down operations by the end of the year, according to the hospital’s statement.

The application was filed with the Illinois Health Facilities and Service Review Board, which must vote before the hospital is allowed to cease operations. The board set a June 27 deadline for anyone to submit a written request for a public hearing about the closing.

MetroSouth took on its current name in 2008 when the campus, formerly known as St. Francis Hospital, threatened to shut down due to heavy losses but was bought by a group of investors. The original campus was built in 1905.

MetroSouth’s neighboring hospitals include Ingalls Memorial, about 4 miles south in Harvey; Roseland Community Hospital, 5 miles northeast; Little Company of Mary, 5 miles north; and Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, 7 miles north.