A move to shutter obstetrics operations at a number of Chicago area hospitals is drawing fire from a U.S. Congresswoman who says the chain responsible is putting “profits over patients.”
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-14th District) said she was informed that Prime Healthcare, which oversees 10 facilities in the Chicago Area, was planning to suspend birth and delivery operations at Joliet’s St. Joseph Hospital, Mercy Medical in Aurora and Resurrection Hospital in Chicago.
She said the impact on her district will be severe.
“Any loss of healthcare access to any of our communities is a real blow…and certainly one that is motivated by profit,” she said from Washington, D.C. “I think that Prime understands they have made a very unpopular decision and they are breaking a promise.”
Prime Healthcare said the decisions were based on financial losses due to its acquisition of the former Ascension Illinois hospitals in 2024.
“Delayed investments and neglected operational changes left the hospitals facing severe financial distress and collectively losing more than $200 million annually.” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Saint Joseph Medical Center alone is projected to sustain financial losses of nearly $69 million in 2026.”
To compensate, Prime Healthcare said it will be consolidating its birthing sevices at higher volume “Centers of Excellence” like St. Mary of Nazareth in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.
“These decisions were made to ensure the quality and the long-term sustainability of these facilities, and every clinical service has been carefully reviewed over the past year based upon objective criteria, including community need, patient safety, physician availability, workforce sustainability, clinical quality, patient volumes, nearby access, and long-term viability,” a spokesperson said
But nurses like Brenda Hernandez, an ICU nurse at St. Mary’s, say the decisions will ultimately take a toll on patient care.
“It’s scary. If you were taking care at Resurrection, which is near O’Hare, you have to get on the expressway and drive and drive 30-40 minutes,” Hernandez said. “That is a long drive if you are in the middle of an emergency or you have to go into labor.”
The move has also drawn criticism from the National Nurses United Union, which is currently in contract negotiations with Prime Healthcare at the St. Mary’s Hospital. They are planning a one-day strike at the facility on Thursday.
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