West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park closes, village officials say

There are growing concerns after the Village of Oak Park announced that West Suburban Medical Center had closed its doors on Wednesday afternoon. 

The Village of Oak Park said in a statement that the facility is no longer accepting ambulances and that the hospital stopped taking walk-ins after 4 p.m. Wednesday. It said that hospital officials are working with 70 patients in their care to determine if they will be discharged or taken to another hospital by Friday evening. 

CBS News Chicago has reached out to the hospital for comment and is waiting to hear back.

According to the village, it comes after a reported financial issue stemming from the hospital's medical records billing system. It was unclear when operations might resume. 

"My heart goes out to every patient, family member, and employee affected by this news. Losing access to a hospital, even temporarily, is frightening, and we recognize that for many in our community, 'West Sub' wasn't just the closest option, it was their only option. The Village of Oak Park stands with all of those impacted and we will continue to do everything within our power to support them through this uncertainty," Village President Vicki Scaman said.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also confirmed the closure on social media, saying:

West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois suspended service of its Emergency Department today and plans to suspend all hospital services by the end of the week. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911 or go to a hospital nearby.  

Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford echoes that message, saying the closure of the hospital is a blow to the community. He pointed out that the hospital did receive special funding last year.

We did provide some relief to Safety Net Hospitals, and West Suburban was one of them. So the question is, I think a full investigation has to be had if there's any mismanagement," he said.    

Ford said that even though the hospital is in Oak Park, it will impact the neighboring Austin community the most. He questions how they could ever reopen if they don't have funds currently.

"I think this may be an attempt to sell the hospital to someone else. And, because I just don't see how the current owner, if they don't have the money to stay open now, where will they get the money to reopen?" he said.

The village said it is "actively monitoring the situation and remain in communication with West Suburban Medical Center's leadership and the Illinois Department of Public Health."

The hospital's closure comes a year after its residency program lost its accreditation. The facility is operated by Resilience Healthcare, which also operated Weiss Memorial Hospital, which closed its emergency department and lost its access to Medicare and Medicaid last year.

The Village of Oak Park is advising residents who need medical care to call 911, as their emergency services are still available.