With its sister hospital, Weiss Memorial, suffering a “catastrophic loss” of its air-conditioning system just as Chicago entered an extreme heat wave, West Suburban Hospital Medical Center admitted 22 Weiss patients beginning June 17.
Resilience Healthcare, the owner of both West Sub and Weiss, blamed the failure of the HVAC at Weiss on neglect by the previous owners. Like West Sub, Weiss has cycled through a series of owners in recent times. Resilience was formed two years ago to purchase the two hospitals out of bankruptcy from its most recent owner.
CBS2 News reported that a half-dozen trucks from HVAC contractors were in the parking lot, June 17. In a statement, the Uptown-based hospital said it expected it would take from several days to a couple of weeks to restore the cooling system. Other reporting indicated delays were expected as hard-to-find parts needed to be located and shipped.
West Sub, a safety-net hospital serving the West Side and Oak Park and River Forest, has been much in the news locally with reports of deteriorating physical conditions, including chronically failing elevators and some medical equipment.
In response to an inquiry last week, though, a spokesman for Resilience said the entire HVAC system at West Sub was replaced in 2024. They declined to provide the cost of that upgrade.
Asked about Journal reporting of ongoing elevator and, more recently, cooling issues at West Sub’s River Forest campus on Lake Street, the spokesperson said two of the three buildings there are not experiencing either elevator or HVAC issues. However, the statement, attributed to Dr. Manoj Prasad, Resilience CEO, acknowledged that the third building in River Forest has had HVAC issues, which “get addressed as they arise and the landlord is working on a more permanent solution.” Prasad said West Sub “often loans our clinical space” to other tenants when there are HVAC issues.
At Weiss all patients were transferred out last week and ambulances have been diverted from its ER, which remains open for walk-ups.
