We spent 10 years blaming state Rep. Chris Welch for all the problems he made, and made worse, during his decade as the school board chair at Proviso Township High Schools. So we’re the experts at criticizing Chris Welch. And it has pained us some to acknowledge that he has become a better state representative than we ever imagined.
Now it is Pipeline Health which is pounding Welch for his 10 years as “chairman of the board” of Westlake Hospital. We’re following this story largely because when California-based Pipeline bought Westlake a few months ago it also bought Weiss Hospital in the city and the hospital we really care about, West Sub, here in Oak Park.
Pipeline is in a pickle. Fully dilled by their own making. And now it is flailing about with a silly PR stunt trying to divert attention from the simple truth that it totally and completely botched its due diligence when it bought this trio of community hospitals from the desperate-to-get-out-of-town Tenet Health, based in Dallas.
Westlake Hospital is failing. Has been for a long time. The pace of its failure has accelerated, maybe, but it was long in trouble. Pipeline should have insisted that Tenet take the inevitable lashing for closing Westlake while it bought the two more viable hospitals. Instead it bought all three, finally grasped how bad the numbers look at Westlake, and is looking for someone to blame for its really bad decision.
We know, Pipeline knows, everyone in health care knows that being chair of the local board of an out-of-town-owned hospital chain is window-dressing. Chris Welch didn’t run Westlake to ground. He wasn’t making critical decisions. Those decisions came out of Texas and from Westlake’s owner before Texas.
Westlake Hospital doesn’t have a future. Pipeline should stop blaming, take its deserved lumps and then focus on West Sub and Weiss.
