Community campaigners are pressing for the reopening of two shuttered Chicago-area hospitals, warning that the closures have left residents in Uptown and Oak Park with fewer affordable healthcare options.
The Coalition to Save Safety-Net Hospitals held a town hall at Malcolm X College on Monday to discuss the future of Weiss Memorial Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center, which stopped serving patients in August 2025 and March 2026 respectively.
Campaign to reopen Chicago-area hospitals
Residents at the meeting said they had been forced to travel further for medical treatment since the hospitals closed. Former employees also spoke about the impact of the shutdowns, including the loss of jobs.
The coalition is calling for hospital services to be restored at both sites, with state officials involved in securing funding, providing oversight and identifying a potential new operator.
There is a possible route to new management. A tentative agreement in a legal dispute between Resilience Healthcare chief executive Manoj Prasad and property owner Rathnakar Reddy Patlola could allow Insight Health to take over the hospitals, subject to regulatory approval. The proposed change could create a path towards reopening under new leadership. ([news.wttw.com](https://news.wttw.com/2026/08/04/advocates-push-two-shuttered-safety-net-hospitals-reopen-chicago-area))
Campaigners nevertheless say any new operator must make a long-term commitment to the communities and involve patients and workers in decisions about the hospitals’ future.
The coalition said Weiss Memorial and West Suburban collectively owe the state about $100 million in loans and unpaid taxes, as well as roughly $24 million in grants. Those figures were presented by the group and were not independently verified in the report.
Organisers also criticised State Senator Don Harmon and State Representative Camille Lilly for not attending the meeting, saying both had been invited in advance. Requests for comment had not received a response by Monday evening.
The closures have placed additional pressure on nearby hospitals, including Loretto Hospital, Community First Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital, which are absorbing patients from the affected areas. The hospitals primarily served Black, Latino and immigrant communities, according to WTTW. ([news.wttw.com](https://news.wttw.com/2026/08/04/advocates-push-two-shuttered-safety-net-hospitals-reopen-chicago-area))
Governor JB Pritzker’s office has said the facilities are privately owned and that their operators had not presented the state with a formal request or viable plan to continue running them. It said former West Suburban patients had been transferred safely to other providers. ([news.wttw.com](https://news.wttw.com/2026/08/04/advocates-push-two-shuttered-safety-net-hospitals-reopen-chicago-area))
The coalition plans to continue meeting and campaigning for a state hearing. Its organisers said the Malcolm X College gathering was the beginning of a wider effort to secure the hospitals’ reopening and maintain healthcare access in the affected communities.
