Oak Forest Hospital gets OK as outpatient center

-State Approves plan by Cook County despite protests-

After months of contentious debate, Cook County officials won approval from the state Tuesday to close Oak Forest Hospital and turn it into a regional outpatient center.

Patient advocates and union leaders who fought against the closure vowed to continue pressuring county officials, as well as suburban hospitals expected to pick up the patient load from Oak Forest, to provide quality care for the poor and uninsured.

Oak Forest will stop providing emergency room care Aug. 31, county officials said. It will continue to operate a 24 hour immediate care center as part of a concession by the county to win approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Patients who arrive at Oak Forest with critical needs will be taken to Sroger Hospital or nearby private Hospitals by ambulance, officials said.

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