Less than a month after Ascension announced plans to sell nine Illinois hospitals to Prime Healthcare, the systems are asking the state for permission to close one of those hospitals.
The systems also revealed for the first time, in applications to the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board, that Prime is paying Ascension more than $370 million to buy the nine hospitals.
Ascension and Prime want to close Ascension St. Elizabeth, a hospital on the city’s West Side, according to an application the systems filed with the state review board that was made public last week. The hospital is only approved to operate 28 beds and its only line of service is treating acute mental illness, according to the application.
It also has an emergency department, but it is a “standby” emergency department, meaning that not as many services and resources are available as at many other emergency departments. Only about two to three patients are now being seen in the hospital’s emergency department each week, Ascension and Prime said in a joint statement Monday.
According to the application to the state, over the last year, “evaluations of the efficacy of the hospital’s continued operation have been undertaken.” Leaders concluded that it made sense to close the hospital because not many patients use it, and because Ascension St. Mary-Chicago, which is within a couple of blocks of St. Elizabeth, can accommodate St. Elizabeth’s patients.
Closing the hospital “will not compromise the ability of area residents to access hospital services,” according to the application.
Ascension and Prime “are dedicated to ensuring that Saint Elizabeth continues to operate as a resource that best addresses the needs of the community and serves the greatest good and most benefit to patients,” the systems said in their statement Monday. “We are committed to ensuring all healthcare needs are not only met but exceeded at neighboring Saint Mary – Chicago, just down the street, with millions of dollars to be invested.”
Ascension and Prime plan to work with stakeholders, patients and the community to “determine the best path forward” for the St. Elizabeth facility, said Elizabeth Nikels, a spokeswoman for Prime, in an email on Monday. “There is a shared commitment to advancing medical education, addressing health equity and patient needs that could all be potentially addressed at Saint Elizabeth,” she said.
Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st, was unavailable for comment Monday, but his office has been working with all involved in the closure, and doesn’t expect any decline in services because of it, said Nicholas Zettel, chief of staff at the ward office.
Ascension and Prime announced in July that Ascension planned to sell more than half of its Illinois hospitals to the California-based Prime, but did not disclose the price at the time. Ascension is a not-for-profit Catholic health system with 140 hospitals across the country. Under the terms of the deal, eight of the Ascension hospitals would become for-profit, while Ascension St. Francis in Evanston would retain its not-for-profit status as part of the Prime Healthcare Foundation.
Prime has 44 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, and has a mission “to save and improve hospitals so that they can deliver compassionate, quality care to patients and better health care for communities.”
When asked last month whether Prime planned to keep all of the Illinois hospitals open, Nikels wrote, “Prime is committed to the long-term success and service of every hospital that is part of our system and has never closed a hospital.” Nickels reiterated in a statement Monday, “Prime Healthcare has never closed a hospital, and remains committed to investing in its healthcare facilities and advancing social responsibility and health equity in the communities it is proud to serve.”
The overall sale of the nine hospitals and several post-acute and senior living facilities is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, pending approvals.
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