Chicago community leaders sought to delay the planned sale of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center to biomedical company Insight, using a virtual state hearing to urge a sale to a partnership formed by a Black physicians’ group and a local hospital, Bloomberg News reported. State representative Lamont Robinson asked the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board to allow a sale to the physicians and Humboldt Park Health, formerly known as Norwegian American Hospital. Humboldt’s population has similar needs and its CEO has transformed it, said Robinson, who represents Mercy’s district. “We need a local organization that understands our community,” he said. At issue is the survival and ownership of Mercy, which filed for bankruptcy last month after the state rejected its plans to shutter. Owner Trinity Health Corp. agreed to sell the facility for $1 to Insight. Alderman Sophia King said that there are a number of interested buyers including local hospitals. Community leaders said they’d met with some prospective buyers. Backers of selling to Insight included officials from the company’s Flint, Mich. hometown and some Mercy physicians, though others were opposed.
