Michigan company agrees to acquire Trinity's Mercy Hospital in Chicago

Flint, Mich.-based Insight has entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire Mercy Hospital & Medical Center on Chicago’s Near South Side. The deal is pending regulatory approval, but if it goes through, it would keep open a safety net facility that had threatened to close.

Under the deal, terms of which are still being negotiated, a unit of the biomedical technology company, called Insight Chicago, would operate Mercy as a full-service, acute care hospital, Mercy said in a statement today. Insight intends to file an application with the state later today, the statement says.

Mercy Hospital's current owner, Trinity Health, still aims to open a separate outpatient center in the area later this year.

Elected officials and community members have rallied against Mercy’s plan to shutter this year. They say closing the hospital would leave residents—many of whom are Black and Brown—without access to health care during a public health crisis.

After a state health board unanimously voted in December to deny the hospital’s application to close, Mercy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to shutter most departments by May 31, citing safety concerns as staff leave and operating losses accelerate.

A group of elected officials, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, last month condemned Trinity Health for moving to close the facility without state approval. In response, the hospital said it was open to transferring ownership “to any interested buyer with financial backing and operational experience.”