State board allows Oak Forest Hospital closing

A state board agreed Tuesday to allow Cook County to close a South suburban hospital where nine long-term care patients remain and turn the facility into a regional outpatient center.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved closing Oak Forest Hospital at meeting in Joliet marked by emotional protest from hospital supporters. The vote was 7-1.

The vote included a condition requesting county officials to return in one year to update the board on the implementation of their conversion plan. The board also wants to know if the county has difficulty getting other local hospitals to take former Oak Forest patients.

The county plans to transfer the last nine patients out of the hospital by Sept. 1. The conversion to an outpatient health center is expected to take three years.

Dr. Terry Mason, interim CEO of the county’s health system, says a new CT scanner will be installed for the outpatient center at Oak Forest and during the first year the facility expects 115,000 outpatient visits.

In May, the board denied the county’s first request to close the hospital.

The lone “no” vote Tuesday came from Ronald Eaker of Urbana, whose May vote against the plan kept it from going forward because other seats on the board were vacant. Since then, Gov. Pat Quinn has appointed three new members who all voted for the plan.

County officials have said the delay has meant $2 million each month in unexpected costs to keep the hospital open this summer.

Before announcing his vote, Eaker criticized county officials for “dismantling” the hospital’s services starting many years ago and then claiming the hospital was underused as a reason for its closure.

“Some have used the analogy of Oak Forest being on life support and now you’re using this board to pull the plug,” Eaker said.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says she was grateful for the board’s approval, but she called it “demeaning and extremely unfortunate” that some protesters who wanted to see the hospital remain open used the word “genocide” as the board prepared to vote.

However, Preckwinkle said she understands the concerns of the protesters were “deeply felt.”