Members of the Illinois Nurses Association are up in arms about the recent decision to close the pediatric unit of St. Joseph Medical Center. Its new owners, Prime Healthcare of California announced that the pediatric center is being shut down because of declining use. Prime Healthcare of California is known for buying struggling not-for-profit hospitals turning them into for profit businesses. Prime has provided healthcare to more than 600 communities across the country since it was founded in 2001.
City officials were blindsided by the sudden move. Executives of Prime Healthcare sent a letter to Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy on Monday, stating that the hospital planned to end pediatric inpatient care on Friday.
According to a statement from Prime, the hospital’s inpatient pediatric unit has been averaging less than one patient a day, while the need for other services like advanced surgical, neurosurgical and spinal care has increased.
“To best serve our community, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to suspend inpatient pediatric services and expand other needed critical service lines,” Prime said in the statement.
The decision will impact two doctors and eight staff members. The physicians have been offered positions at the company’s affiliated medical group, and the nurses will be offered jobs in other departments at St. Joes or other nearby Prime hospitals.
St. Joseph has already entered into an agreement to transfer pediatric patients to Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville, which is more than 20 miles away from Joliet.
Pediatric patients can also go to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, which is about nine miles away, or Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, which is more than 40 miles away. According to the statement St. Joes will continue to treat children in its emergency department.
The Illinois Nurses Association, who represents St. Joseph’s Medical Center said relocating pediatric patients to other hospitals is in violation of its contract, which requires a 30-day notice if nurses are to be laid off or displaced. The union also accused Prime of going back on its word to not discontinue any services at the Medical Center for at least two years after the purchase.
“St. Joe’s is the only hospital in the third largest city of Illinois, and without a pediatrics unit, the city’s thousands of children will need to go as far as Chicago in order to get access to the critical care that they need,” the union stated.
A Prime spokesperson said many community hospitals across Chicago have closed their inpatient pediatric units due to decrease in demand. The spokesperson said families are opting to transfer their children to hospitals like Lurie, Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn and the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, which often are top choices for families seeking complex pediatric care.
mmayer@thetimesweekly.com
