What is going on at West Suburban Medical Center? How serious are the financial problems? Here’s what we know this week in our ongoing coverage of issues at this vital community health-care provider — vital for Oak Park and River Forest, even more vital for the West Side.
Fifteen months ago, portions of a long fence that divides the west side of the Austin Boulevard campus from its residential neighbors on Taylor Avenue blew down in a windstorm. The hospital removed the entire fence shortly after. But there has been no progress on replacing the fence, which is seen by neighbors as essential to their privacy and was part of a long-ago and hard-fought pact allowing West Sub to expand.
The village has been way too slow in pressuring West Sub to rebuild the fence. And the hospital told a group of frustrated neighbors on a Zoom call last week that it will need to “budget” the $60,000 replacement cost and can do that by next spring.
Something is not right at West Sub that it can’t replace a fence in a timely and respectful manner.