BLUE ISLAND -- The parent of St. Francis Hospital said Thursday it has signed a deal to transfer the the south suburban facility to a group called MSMC Investors LLC, which will rename it MetroSouth Medical Center.
While financial terms of the transfer weren't disclosed, the majority owner, Falcon Investors, said its long-term plan is to invest up to $30 million in new equipment and technology at St. Francis.
Day-to-day operations will be overseen by Transition Healthcare, which previously tried to buy St. Francis but saw the deal fall through after its financial backer pulled out.
Transition chief executive Arnold Kimmel will become CEO of MetroSouth Medical Center.
SSM Health Care announced April 2 it would seek state approval to close the 410-bed hospital, citing ongoing financial losses due to caring for a larger number of uninsured and underinsured patients.
Executives with Falcon and Transition Healthcare shared little of their plans to turn around the financial condition of the hospital. "We are confident we will be successful here," Kimmel said.
Employees have been told not to expect cuts in jobs or pay, and the new owners will recognize the existing seniority structure, but benefits could be tweaked, Kimmel said.
The actual transfer of the hospital to the new owners won't take place for a few months until the facility's certificate of need is moved to MSMC Investors.
"We've got a long way to go," cautioned Blue Island Mayor Don Peloquin, who was born at St. Francis, as were his four children.
More than 200 St. Francis employees crowded into the hospital lobby for a press conference announcing the signing of the deal.
"You are tremendous," Dixie Platt, executive vice president with SSM Health Care, told them. "We know how difficult the last several weeks have been for you."
Plans to change the hospital's name to MetroSouth were generally met with a shrug from hospital employees, who said St. Francis is so entrenched in the community many people will likely continue to call it that.
Kimmel said the name "speaks to the regional approach" the new owners hope to take to broaden St. Francis' patient base.
Copyright 2008 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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