Suburban leaders upset over plan to close/tear down most of Chicago Heights hospital

Mayors of the city of Chicago Heights and neighboring suburbs aren’t happy with a plan by Franciscan Alliance to tear down most of St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights and shift inpatient care to its sister hospital in Olympia Fields.

And they’ve joined with state legislators and large social service agencies from suburbs such as South Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, Steger, Crete and Beecher to fight the plan that still requires approval by the state.

“Over the last 100 years, countless lives have depended on St. James Hospital, and while the facility is in Chicago Heights, eliminating critical services will negatively impact tens of thousands of patients from the surrounding communities,” Chicago Heights Mayor David A. Gonzalez said…Please click here to read Maudlyne Ihejirika’s story in the Sun-Times.