Rockford Sun

The now-closed Westlake Hospital in Cook County could soon reopen its doors for good, following a bipartisan effort to make health care more available in the western suburbs.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill in April allowing a provider to quickly start operations at the hospital through an "expedited" acquisition to renew health care services in the immediate area — a desperate need only spotlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"The governor signed into law today a bipartisan bill I co-sponsored to ensure healthcare access to our most vulnerable in the western suburbs," Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) said in an April 6 Facebook post. "This is the kind of collaboration we need more of in state government — working together to solve challenges that rise far above and beyond partisan distinctions."

The law, which took effect right away, would allow a provider interested in reopening Westlake Hospital to do so as soon as possible provided they agree to spend at least $20 million to purchase the building and land, agree to retain ownership for at least five years, have a "charity care policy" that provides that would operate at the very minimum as the hospital did before closing, and accept Medicaid and Managed Care Organizations patients. 

According to a release on the state's website, Westlake Hospital closed in 2019, but early on in the pandemic, it was temporarily reopened to help treat patients so that other hospitals would not be overwhelmed.

The legislation's goal was to bring "trusted healthcare" back to the communities Westlake Hospital served by having it serve as a fully operational hospital once again.