Politics & Government

Legislation to Quickly Close Oak Forest Hospital Fades in Senate

A bill that would have granted an abrupt closure of Oak Forest Hospital has not made it to the House floor, reports Sun-Times Media.

The future of remains uncertain, after the failure of Senate Bill 40—legislation that would have permitted the abrupt closing of the hospital and conversion into a regional outpatient center.

The bill was amended by state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) to allow Cook County to close any of its three hospitals without state approval, according to the Sun-Times Media report.

“I’m not planning to call it at this point,” Currie said Tuesday afternoon, as quoted in the article. “The president of the Cook County Board [Toni Preckwinkle] felt that we didn’t have a solid enough vote total, so we’re not going ahead with it.”

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The county contends it would save $10 million in the last six months of the year, or $20 million per year, according to the report.

County officials will hold a press conference to discuss their plan for the hospital on Wednesday, according to the report.

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