West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park faces a potential power shutdown scheduled for July 8 due to unpaid electric bills, according to a notice posted by ComEd earlier this month. The prospect of a cutoff emerged amid ongoing legal disputes between the hospital’s two owners during a Cook County court hearing on Monday.
The hospital’s closure follows a decision by Oak Park officials after all 28 elevators at the facility malfunctioned, making it impossible for patients to access clinics on upper floors or exit the building. The Oak Park Fire Department responded to the issue on June 11, and the village has mandated that at least two elevators must be fully operational before the hospital can resume services. As of now, repairs have not been completed.
West Suburban Medical Center is jointly owned by Manoj Prasad, CEO and majority shareholder of Resilience Healthcare, and Rathnakar Reddy Patlola, the minority owner of Resilience and landlord for West Suburban and two additional hospitals under Resilience’s management: West Suburban’s River Forest campus and Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Representatives for both owners, as well as a ComEd spokesperson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The hospital’s operational challenges began earlier this year when Prasad abruptly shut down West Suburban in March, citing problems with the hospital’s billing system. Some outpatient clinics were reopened in April; however, PCC Community Wellness Center, which operates its own clinics within the hospital, remained open until the elevator failures forced closure.
The closure intensified a legal conflict between Prasad and Patlola. Patlola sought to remove Prasad from control and evict Resilience Healthcare from the hospital properties and medical office buildings. In response, Prasad filed a lawsuit to block the eviction, with Patlola countering by requesting a court-appointed receiver to manage West Suburban’s operations to facilitate reopening.
Three weeks ago, Cook County Judge Patrick Stanton denied Patlola’s emergency petition for a receiver, citing insufficient evidence. At Monday’s hearing, Stanton emphasized the need for a concrete reopening plan. Both parties are expected to return to court on Thursday to continue negotiations aimed at resolving operational control and reopening the facility.