There's no shortage of hospital news in Illinois this week, where two healthcare systems are expanding their reach, one via acquisition and the other the old fashioned way--opening a new facility.
Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems announced plans to acquire Chicago-based Catholic facility Holy Cross Hospital, which had considered closing in recent years due to "a weak economy and continuing financial difficulty." Despite Vanguard's for-profit status, Holy Cross, a 330-plus bed facility, will maintain its religious identity. It joins a Windy City network of facilities that includes MacNeal, Weiss Memorial and Westlake Hospitals and West Suburban Medical Center, according to a news release.
"This agreement will save hundreds of jobs, fuel the region's economy and most importantly allow the remarkable work of this hospital and its staff to continue," Holy Cross CEO Wayne Lerner said.
Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare, meanwhile, announced the opening of a new 50-bed, long-term acute care hospital--Kindred Hospital Springfield in Springfield, Ill.
The facility boasts, among other things, a six-bed high acuity hospital unit, a four-bed dialysis room, three negative-pressure isolation rooms and telemetry monitoring availability for 16 patients, according to a news release.
"Kindred Hospital Springfield is the seventh hospital we have acquired or opened since last December," Kindred CEO Paul J. Diaz said. "We look forward to providing hospital services to the residents of the Springfield area."
For more information:
- read the Holy Cross/Vanguard announcement
- check out this Becker's Hospital Review brief on the acquisition
- here's the Kindred news release