Joliet cancer center closing, Duly refers patients to centers in other towns

Duly Health and Care plans to close its Joliet cancer treatment center on Jefferson Street.

Joliet Oncology-Hematology Associates, an independent practice before it was acquired in March 2021 by Duly, will close Jan. 31, Maria McGowan, senior vice president of marketing for Duly, said in an email.

Patients have been notified of the pending closure.

“Patient care at the location on Jefferson Street will be available through Jan. 31, 2024,” McGowan said in her emailed response to questions about the closing. “We have been working with our patients who are in active treatment to transfer their care to other locations after that date.”

A letter to some patients referred them to other Duly facilities in Plainfield, Tinley Park and Winfield.

The cancer center, commonly known by its acronym JOHA, opened in 1981 with the purpose of providing Joliet-area cancer patients a treatment center closer to home.

Patient Cheri Johnson of Joliet said the proximity was important for her when she was treated for cancer for eight months until March 2023.

“With recent physician retirements, we have made the decision to move our oncology services and staff to locations that offer more resources to patients.”

—  Maria McGowan, senior vice president of marketing for Duly

“I feel lucky that I was there when they were still open and thriving, because it’s going to be hard for people not to have that full-service facility there,” Johnson said. “When you go through cancer treatment, you go through a lot of wear and tear, and it’s tough just to make appointments.”

Johnson continues to see a doctor at the JOHA facility for check-ups and will find out Monday where she will be transferred.

JOHA in previous years was expanding and at one time had six offices in the Chicago region. The last two offices outside Joliet closed in 2023. Duly closed a New Lenox office in August and a Morris location in April.

In 2012, JOHA owners formed an affiliation with Provena Health, the medical group that at the time owned what now is Ascension Saint Joliet – Joliet hospital and later became Presence Health, which also added its name to the Jefferson Street cancer facility.

At that time, JOHA had 80 employees at its Joliet location at 2614 W. Jefferson St., a former Eagle supermarket that the medical group acquired to expand operations from a its previous facility on Glenwood Avenue.

Recent retirements from the medical staff prompted the decision to move cancer treatment for Joliet patients to other Duly Health and Care locations, McGowan said in her email.

“We have been fortunate to care for many cancer patients in the Joliet community,” McGowan said. “With recent physician retirements, we have made the decision to move our oncology services and staff to locations that offer more resources to patients.”

Duly Health and Care, formerly DuPage Medical Group, has expanded into the Joliet area, at times by acquiring long-established medical groups. Its local operations include the former Joliet Medical Group offices at Glenwood and Hammes avenues.

Duly has eight other office locations in Joliet. It also has five locations in Plainfield, two in Bolingbrook and one in Romeoville.

The medical group also acquired naming rights at the city-owned stadium where the Joliet Slammers baseball team plays at a time when it was difficult to find a stadium sponsor.