Prime Healthcare to End OB Services at Three Illinois Hospitals by October

Key points

• Prime Healthcare announced the suspension of OB services at three Chicago-area hospitals, effective October 1, 2026.
• The affected facilities are Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago.
• Prime attributes the decision to years of financial distress, ownership changes, and a significant drop in birth volumes, with some hospitals seeing fewer than one delivery daily.
• The company is consolidating services into new Centers of Excellence at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago and Olympia Fields Hospital.
• Approximately 26 full-time nurses and one physician at Saint Joseph alone will be affected, though Prime claims over three times as many open positions exist system-wide.
• Prime has committed $1 million in grants for maternal health initiatives and stated the closures could be reversed if demand increases.

Background

This move follows Prime Healthcare’s March 2025 acquisition of eight Ascension Illinois hospitals for over $370 million. The company previously cut 100 jobs across these facilities in 2025 and closed pediatric inpatient units at Saint Joseph in August 2026. Earlier in 2025, Prime also ended labor and delivery services at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, leaving Riverside Medical Center as the sole provider in that county.

How outlets are covering it

Prime Healthcare frames the consolidation as a quality-of-care measure, arguing that low-volume services lead to worse outcomes and that centralizing care at established centers ensures better maternal and neonatal safety. Dr. Sunny Bhatia, Prime’s chief medical officer, described the move as a 'truly regionalized system' of care. Conversely, the Illinois Nurses Association condemned the decision as 'shameful,' arguing that Prime is abandoning care for mothers and babies to maximize profits. Local officials, including Joliet City Council member Jan Quillman and State Sen. Rachel Ventura, expressed deep concern over the impact on community access and the risk to expectant mothers who must now travel to distant facilities. Shaw Local highlighted that Will County births have declined by more than 30% over 20 years, while Silver Cross Hospital in nearby New Lenox is expanding its maternal care, handling roughly 10 times the volume of Saint Joseph.

Why it matters

The suspension of OB services at major hospitals in Joliet, Aurora, and Chicago marks a significant shift in local healthcare access, forcing residents to travel to consolidated centers for childbirth. It highlights the tension between corporate consolidation strategies aimed at efficiency and quality metrics versus community concerns over reduced proximity to care and potential job losses for healthcare workers.

What to watch

Prime Healthcare will officially suspend OB services at the three hospitals on October 1, 2026. The company will begin transitioning patients to Saint Mary of Nazareth and Olympia Fields, while also working with Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox to manage current patient care. Prime will continue to offer affected employees other positions within its system and monitor demand to determine if the suspensions can be reversed.