Michael Reese Hospital may close

Michael Reese Medical Center Corp., operator of the 450-bed namesake hospital in Chicago, sought bankruptcy protection for the second time in almost six years and may shut its doors for good.

The hospital, an affiliate of Envision Hospital Corp., has debt of as much as $100 million and assets of up to $50 million, according to a Chapter 11 petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. The hospital in June told state regulators it will close, ABC-7 reported.

The hospital has 1,100 employees, including 575 doctors, according to its Web site. The company previously sought bankruptcy protection in Washington, D.C., in 2002 and emerged from reorganization in 2004.

Michael Reese's lawyer, Geoffrey Goodman of the firm Foley & Lardner in Chicago, didn't immediately return a call for comment. A person answering phones at the hospital declined to comment or disclose the names of the hospital's top executives.

Michael Reese's 20 biggest creditors without collateral backing their claims are owed a total of $19.4 million, court papers show. Medline Industries Inc.'s unsecured claim of $6.62 million is the biggest in the case. The University of Illinois Medical Center and ComEd. have unsecured claims of $2.3 million and $2.08 million respectively.

Michael Reese isn't the first hospital to seek court protection as the U.S. economy stumbles. Hospital Partners of America Inc., operator of four hospitals in Texas and California, sought court protection Sept. 24. North Oakland Medical Centers Inc., based in Pontiac, Michigan, filed on Aug. 26 and agreed to be sold to a group of doctors for $9 million.

The case is in re Michael Reese Medical Center Corp., 08-25811, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).