MetroSouth sued day before state regulators vote on its closure application

State regulators will vote on the closure of MetroSouth Medical Center on Tuesday. A new lawsuit may postpone that vote. | Manny Ramos/Sun-Times

The fate of MetroSouth Medical Center could be decided Tuesday, but that decision may be postponed because of a new lawsuit filed against the hospital’s operators.

People’s Choice Hospital, a hospital management company that was a potential buyer, filed a complaint against Quorum Health — the parent company of MetroSouth — claiming Quorum engaged in bad-faith negotiation tactics before abruptly ending talks to sell the hospital in August.

Tennessee-based Quorum has denied these accusations in the past but was not immediately available to comment on the latest lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed to “hold Quorum accountable” to finish the sale of the hospital, for alleged fraud and for breaching their initial contract. It also accuses Quorum of walking away from the sale because it stands to make $64 million if it liquidates its assets — far more than the $20 million price tag the two parties initially agreed on.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board will vote on the hospital’s future Tuesday during its monthly meeting at Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Drive, but this new lawsuit grants the board the ability to defer making a decision until after litigation is completed.

MetroSouth has already told employees the facility would shut down Sept. 30.

MetroSouth, 12935 S. Gregory St. in Blue Island, is one of two hospitals in the Chicagoland area that have sought to terminate services this year. Westlake Hospital, 1225 W. Lake St. in Melrose Park, is the other, which has been closed since August.

The village of Melrose Park also sued to force the board to defer its vote on Westlake in April, but regulators approved the closure anyway. The unanimous approval sparked several court appeals and even forced Gov. J.B. Pritzker to oust two newly appointed board members days later.

(Left to Right) State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Westchester, attorney Ari Scharg and state Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Northlake, outside a courtroom on April, 16, 2019, after a judge ruled Westlake Hospital had to stay open.

For over six months, Ari Scharg, an attorney with Edelson PC, has fought against Westlake’s closure by filing lawsuits, seeking temporary restraining orders and challenging the facility’s operators legitimacy to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Lawsuits against Westlake’s owners are still ongoing.

Now, Scharg and a team of attorneys are hoping to disrupt MetroSouth’s closure in the same way and force Quorum Health back to the negotiating table.

“In a move that has become surprisingly commonplace in Illinois, an out-of-state for-profit company has decided to shutter a community hospital, leaving its patients and employees in the lurch,” the lawsuit reads. “Quorum’s scheme to close MetroSouth will deprive the residents of Blue Island and the neighboring communities of access to critical health care and rip away more than 800 jobs from the State of Illinois.”

Amanda Anderson, a spokesperson for Quorum, said earlier this month the deal fell apart because of People’s Choice Hospital’s unwillingness “to engage in customary negotiations or sign a binding agreement, combined with documented concerns of alleged fraud and mismanagement.”

Manny Ramos is a corps member of Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South Side and West Side.