New owner of Saint Joseph hospital suspends pediatric inpatient care, less than two months after buying hospitals

Chicago Tribune

22-04-2025

The new owner of Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet plans to suspend inpatient pediatric care at the hospital, less than two months after buying Saint Joseph and seven other Illinois hospitals from Ascension – a move that's drawing criticism from the hospital's nurses union.
Executives at California-based Prime Healthcare sent a letter Monday to the mayor of Joliet saying the hospital planned to halt pediatric inpatient care, and would start transferring pediatric patients Friday.
The hospital's inpatient pediatric unit has been averaging less than one patient a day, while the need for other services, such as advanced surgical, neurosurgical and spinal care has grown, according to a statement from Prime.
'To best serve our community, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to suspend inpatient pediatric services and expand other needed critical service lines,' Prime said in the statement.
Two doctors and eight staff members are affected by the decision. The doctors have been offered positions at Prime's affiliated medical group, and the nurses will be offered jobs in other departments at Saint Joseph or other nearby Prime hospitals, according to the letter.
The letter notes that Saint Joseph has entered into an agreement to transfer pediatric patients to Endeavor Health Edward Hospital, which is in Naperville, more than 20 miles away. Pediatric patients can also go to Silver Cross Hospital, which is about nine miles away, or Lurie Children's Hospital, which is more than 40 miles away, according to the letter. Saint Joseph will continue to treat children in its emergency department.
The Illinois Nurses Association, however, says the move violates its contract, which requires 30 days notice if nurses are to be laid off or displaced. They also say the closing will be difficult for the Joliet community.
'St. Joe's is the only hospital in the third largest city of Illinois, and without a Pediatrics unit, the city's thousands of children will need to go as far as Chicago in order to get access to the critical care that they need,' the union wrote in a news release.
The union also accused Prime of going back on pledges that it would not discontinue any services at the hospital for at least two years after purchasing it.
An application to the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board to change the hospital's ownership, stated that ' … at this time, no changes to the scope of services or the levels of care provided at the facility are currently anticipated to occur within 24 months of the proposed transaction.' The application to the state board also stated that during Prime's first 12 to 18 months of ownership it would assess the hospital's services with 'the potential existing of decisions being made to modify the scope of or manner in which certain services are provided at the facility, the addition of services, or the discontinuation of services at the facility.'
Prime bought Saint Joseph in March for $71 million, along with seven other Illinois hospitals previously owned by Ascension, a large Catholic health system. Most of the hospitals sold to Prime, including Saint Joseph, changed from being nonprofit hospitals to for profit hospitals as part of the sale.
In recent years, many Chicago area community hospitals have closed their inpatient pediatric units, citing decreased demand. More children are getting care without needing to stay overnight, and community hospitals face competition from major children's hospitals in the area, such as Lurie, Advocate Children's Hospital and University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, which are often top choices for families seeking complex pediatric care.
Closings of pediatric units typically have to be approved the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board.
Originally Published: April 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM CDT