Chicago Hospital's Closure Is a Canary in Coal Mine for Corporatized Health Care

"That process that has only been exacerbated by the national defunding of Medicare and Medicaid currently underway through the massive budget bill passed by Congress this year, leaving hundreds of hospitals in a state of precarity. That such safety-net hospitals are often disproportionately located in low-income communities and neighborhoods of color only furthers the crisis of health care, especially for vulnerable low-income, immigrant, and refugee populations who often lose access to care as a result."

"Between 2010 and 2023, more hospitals closed than opened in the United States, with rural closures outpacing their urban counterparts. More than 300 rural hospitals across the country are in imminent danger of closure, with 400 others - an astounding one-third of all rural hospitals - at high risk of closing in the near future. The upcoming cuts to Medicaid funding will only heighten this health care crisis."

Weiss Memorial Hospital closed on August 8, 2025 after decades serving Uptown, Chicago’s diverse and vulnerable northside populations. Weiss was the neighborhood’s first and only community safety-net hospital with a mission to serve low-income communities. The hospital closed despite residents’ pleas, including those of an elderly Vietnamese refugee and war veteran who relied on Weiss for critical services. Public disinvestment and national defunding of Medicare and Medicaid through a recent massive budget bill have left hundreds of hospitals precarious. Safety-net hospitals are often concentrated in low-income communities and communities of color, worsening access losses for low-income, immigrant, and refugee populations. Between 2010 and 2023 more hospitals closed than opened; over 300 rural hospitals face imminent danger and another 400 are at high risk.

Read at Truthout