CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Political and community leaders are calling on the state to, at least temporarily, take over Mercy Hospital until a suitable buyer can be found for it.
Trinity Health, the current owner of Mercy Hospital, located on 25th and Michigan, said it plans to close the facility on May 31.
Leaders said they need to know any potential buyer of Chicago’s oldest chartered hospital has the financial means and a real desire to serve the people of the South Side.
Community leaders such as Pastor Charles Straight of Faith United Methodist Church said there is not enough time before May 31 to evaluate and vet potential buyers.
"It’s a moral imperative that we keep Mercy Hospital open, but not just open. That’s not just the bottom line, but viable and a community asset," he said.
The leaders also said they want the community represented on the board of any entity that takes over Mercy. So far, they say Insight Chicago, another Chicago hospital and a group of black doctors, are interested in buying the hospital.
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Shannon Bennett, the executive director of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization said, "We have drawn a line in the sand about protecting our institutions and what we will tolerate in our community."
State Rep. Robinson said it's not just Mercy Hospital that needs the state's help. He said Governor Pritzker and the State of Illinois need to make sure underserved areas of the state are not left floundering without solid health care.
"We’re talking about Mercy today, but we could be talking about St. Bernard tomorrow," Robinson said.
4th Ward Alderman Sophia King said, "Trinity transferring ownership of the hospital to the state would allow more time to properly assess a potential buyer and manager of Mercy Hospital. Then, we can interview candidates transparently and recommend the strongest candidate to ultimately assume ownership."
Dr. Ben Saiyasombat stressed the importance of community input into what Mercy Hospital will look like in the future.
"There’s no point in selling the hospital, to keeping it open, if we end up with a watered down version with cut services, without any community input and what's going to happen if that happens, we're going to be right where we started. We're going to end up closing a few months later," he said.