Prime Healthcare to Close Obstetrics Services at Three Chicago-Area Hospitals
Prime Healthcare announced plans to consolidate and suspend obstetric services at Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago. According to company statements, declining birth rates, lower patient volumes averaging less than one birth per day, and historical financial challenges drove the decision to centralize maternity care into regional centers of excellence.
Understanding the Consolidation of Chicago-Area Maternity Units
According to the company, the affected facilities—Saint Joseph Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, and Resurrection Medical Center—faced years of financial strain and dwindling patient numbers. Operating units with fewer than one birth per day compromised the ability to sustain specialized, round-the-clock staffing and optimal patient safety outcomes.
Prime Healthcare indicated that care will be redirected to established, high-volume maternity wards. This regionalization strategy aims to concentrate complex medical expertise in facilities equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies and neonatal intensive care needs.
New Centers of Excellence and Community Investment Plans
To offset the closures, Prime Healthcare announced plans to develop dedicated Centers of Excellence for Maternal Care at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago and at Olympia Fields Hospital. According to Dr. Sunny Bhatia, president and chief medical officer of Prime Healthcare, this structure creates a true regionalized system focused on improved quality and better clinical outcomes for mothers and newborns.
Dr. Devyani Chawla, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and director of the maternity center at Saint Mary of Nazareth, stated that concentrating maternity services in established centers ensures high standards of patient safety while addressing existing disparities in maternal health. The health system also committed 1 million de dólares en subvenciones in grants directed toward local community maternal health initiatives.
Labor Relations and Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny
In March 2025, Prime Healthcare acquired eight hospitals from Ascension Illinois in a transaction valued at over 370 million de dólares. Subsequent workforce reductions prompted formal inquiries from federal lawmakers, including U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.
Labor friction has also intensified. Nurses at Saint Joseph Medical Center, represented by the Illinois Nurses Association, previously raised alarms regarding chronic understaffing. In June, legal representatives for nursing staff filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the hospital failed to maintain safe nurse-to-patient ratios. Following the announcement of the obstetric closures, union representatives asserted that the health system disregards the welfare of Illinois families and children.
In response to workforce displacement concerns, Prime Healthcare stated an intention to offer affected employees alternative positions within the health system, claiming that available internal openings exceed the number of impacted jobs by more than three times.