When Rev. Ira Acree’s wife suffered a medical emergency several weeks ago, the closure of West Suburban Medical Center really hit home.
“What would have normally been just a five-minute ride from Greater St. John Church to here, ended up being a 20-minute ride across town,” Acree said Tuesday outside the now-shuttered West Suburban. “And listen, when somebody is having a stroke, a heart attack, a seizure or an aneurysm, 20 minutes can become a tragedy.”
The owners of West Suburban Medical Center, on the eastern edge of Oak Park, abruptly closed the hospital in late March and furloughed most of its employees. Resilience Healthcare chief executive officer Manoj Prasad, who’s in charge of the hospital’s day-to-day operations, blamed the hospital’s electronic medical record system.
Prasad and the hospital’s landlord, Rathnakar Reddy Patlola, sued each other last month. Patlola is asking a Cook County judge to appoint a receiver — a neutral third party — to oversee hospital operations. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday.
Numerous faith leaders and healthcare workers gathered outside the hospital Tuesday morning to demand its reopening. They called for state leadership to intervene and help reopen the facility, for the release of all audits conducted on the hospital, and for the Oak Park and Austin communities to be central to the hospital’s future leadership.
Advocates say the hospital’s closure has created a medical desert in the community, prolonging access to emergency care.
West Suburban Medical Center was one of a few safety-net hospitals serving West Side residents. Among the still-open hospitals nearby are Rush Oak Park Hospital on Harlem Avenue, Oak Park’s western border; Loretto Hospital on Central Avenue in Austin; and Community First Medical Center in Portage Park, the hospital where Rev. Acree’s wife ended up.
West Suburban Medical Center, on Austin Boulevard at the eastern edge of Oak Park, provided vital health care both to Oak Park and to the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. Its closing is having a major impact on the area, say community members and others who held a news conference outside the shuttered facility on Tuesday to demand that it be reopened.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
“For many in our community, this hospital was more than a medical facility; it was a lifeline,” said Lajuan Whitfield, pastor of New Life Holiness Church in Austin. “It was where babies were born, it was where emergencies were treated, it was where loved ones were cared for and healthcare professionals faithfully served our community.”
Dr. Vishnu Chundi, a former longtime infectious disease specialist at West Suburban Medical Center, said he watched the hospital’s grade slip from an “A” to an “F” in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.
“This hospital was an excellent hospital,” Chundi said.
“We watched the deterioration of healthcare. We watched our nurses who were highly skilled in stroke, heart attacks leave because they simply didn’t have the means to take care of their patients, and that is unacceptable to us,” he added.
“As physicians, nurses and staff, we took great pride in this hospital for providing really good care and we’ve seen that go away. And I think the West Side should demand emergency care and an acute hospital that befits the sickness in that area.”
When asked if they want the hospital to be placed in receivership, Bishop Dwight Gunn, from Heritage International Christian Church, said advocates appreciate the case is being considered and that their ultimate hope is proper oversight of the hospital that focuses on “the people of the community.”
“We know that processes have to play out,” Gunn said. “Unfortunately, private ownership has created a situation here that makes it even more difficult in our move forward.”