Mercy Hospital files bankruptcy amid unsustainable financial losses

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Feb. 11 – Mercy Hospital and Medical Center filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Mercy said it had previously planned to discontinue its inpatient acute care services and wind down as a licensed full-service acute care hospital.

The hospital said declining utilization rates resulting in excess inpatient bed capacity, increasing competition from local health systems, movement of care to outpatient settings and the shifting health care needs of the communities served by Mercy caused significant and unsustainable financial losses.

Mercy also planned to create a new Mercy Care Center to provide advanced diagnostic care, urgent care and care coordination services.

However, the hospital said it has been unable to effectuate its plans as originally envisioned, and management doesn’t anticipate being able to do so in the future.

“The quality of care at Mercy is an increasing concern as physicians and other colleagues have left Mercy and operating losses have accelerated to $7 million per month,” Mercy said.

The hospital listed $100 million to $500 million in both assets and liabilities.

No creditors were listed with unsecured claims of $1 million or more.

Mercy Hospital and Medical Center is a 292-bed general medical and surgical Catholic teaching hospital in Chicago. The Chapter 11 case number is 21-01805.

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