The plan will also leave the combined hospitals in a better bargaining position with insurers and suppliers.

John Hoffman, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, called the move encouraging in a statement, noting healthcare system challenges required “public and private partnership.”


Unions were also in support of the proposal, with SEIU Healthcare Illinois union president Greg Kelley stating that it had the “potential to stabilize the finances of these hospitals while safeguarding existing services and expanding services to more fully meet community needs.”

But some in the impacted community are worried that they will be abandoned if their local hospital closes as part of the plan.

“If you look at what’s happened with hospital closures lately, people feel like it’s an abandonment of the community and people feel rightfully threatened,” Mark Silberman, vice chair of the health care group at law firm Benesch in Chicago told the Chicago Tribune, adding, “if this is a larger, more organized plan of ‘how do we stay here, how do we stay present, how do we stay strong’ ... hopefully that can reduce some of the anxiety that often accompanies changes in healthcare delivery."

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