The US Department of Veterans Affairs is recommending that the 100-year-old Hines VA Hospital be replaced with a new facility.
Hines was built to serve veterans returning from World War One, notes director James Doelling, and a VA report says it would cost more than $500M for modernization.
Simply renovating the facility would not be cost effective, Doelling told the Tribune.
The VA is recommending it be replaced with a new facility. No cost estimate has been given. This would be part of a national VA overhaul that includes closing some facilities.
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The Chicago area would keep its three VA hospitals - Hines, Jesse Brown and James Lovell - and new clinics would be added in Morris and LaPorte, Indiana.
The VA is shifting its focus to more outpatient services.
Hines, which has 500 beds, is adjacent to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.