Oak Forest Hospital To Remain Open For Now
CHICAGO (AP) - Cook County officials are minimizing services at a charity hospital in Chicago's southern suburbs, but keeping it open for now.
Only about a dozen patients will remain at Oak Forest Hospital. Surgeries were halted last month. The emergency room will remain open, but the intensive care unit and the acute rehabilitation department will close.
The county wants to close the hospital, but a state board last month denied that request.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Wednesday the county health system's leaders could have done a better job informing the public about plans to convert the hospital into a regional outpatient center. She says the health system will submit a new proposal to the state board, which will include an all-hours urgent care center at the Oak Forest campus.
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