Weiss Memorial Hospital at risk of closure after losing Medicare funding

CHICAGO — Since 1975, Phong Nguyen has lived on the North Side of Chicago. In the 90s, he was treated for colon cancer and kidney stones at Weiss Memorial Hospital.

“Weiss Hospital treated all those illnesses for me as a war veteran, since then I’ve been using their services,” Nguyen said.

But starting this weekend, the hospital is set to lose Medicare and Medicaid insurance payments. It could be forced to close its doors.

“This hospital serves 82% Medicare and Medicaid patients,” Illinois State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) said. “It’s a safe center hospital; we fought for this hospital to get safety net status when I first came into office in 2022 because it serves a very vulnerable population in this district.”

On July 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, notified Weiss management that the hospital would lose coverage starting Aug. 9 after failing to remain in compliance.

CMS noted that among many other issues, the hospital’s emergency room lacked medications and monitoring equipment.

In June, the hospital’s air conditioning failed, and it had to evacuate and transfer its entire inpatient unit to its sister hospital in Oak Park.

“We have been in touch with them to really investigate some reports that we received about the quality of care and safety for the patients. That is the bottom line here,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said.

The Chicago Department of Public Health says it is aware of the situation and is working with community leaders to find alternative care options for residents.

Rep. Huynh is calling on the federal government for an eight-week extension in hopes of saving jobs and health care for the community.

“We know when this hospital is not operating well folks are going to lose their jobs, that’s going to be a loss of over 1,000 jobs and we can’t let that happen,” he said.

WGN reached out to the CEO of Resilience Healthcare, which owns Weiss. He did not respond but we are told that he can request a hearing on the termination decisions.