Joliet Saint Joseph Hospital will stop pediatric admissions this week

Prime Healthcare’s decision to close the pediatrics unit at Saint Joseph Medical Center means no one under 18 will be admitted as a patient.

The move is the first big cut at the Joliet hospital by the for-profit hospital operator that took ownership of Saint Joseph Medical Center on March 1.

It’s one that the Illinois Nurses Association, the union that represents nurses at the Joliet hospital, says belies California-based Prime Healthcare’s claims to state regulators that it would not make immediate cuts if given approval to take over eight hospitals in the Chicago-area formerly part of the Ascension network.

Prime Healthcare plans to stop admitting pediatric patients as soon as Thursday, although the long-term fate of the unit is up to a state review board that regulates hospitals.

Meanwhile, Prime also plans to stop delivering babies at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee by mid-May as it cites low numbers just as it has in justifying closing the pediatric unit in Joliet.

As in Joliet, the decision in Kankakee has been met with questions about whether Prime Healthcare was truthful with regulators when getting approval for its entry into Illinois.

In both cases, Prime Healthcare cites diminishing use of the hospital services that it wants to eliminate.

Baby deliveries in Kankakee are down to what is statistically fewer than 1 a day, according to Prime, which cites the same number for daily census at its Joliet pediatric unit.

Eliminating the pediatric unit will have a small impact on patient care at Saint Joseph Medical Center, according to a statement from Prime Healthcare.

“This adjustment affects only a very small number of patients - on average less than one patient daily - and we want to reassure our community that we remain deeply committed to caring for children and families,“ the statement said.

Saint Joseph Medical Center will continue to treat patients under 18 in an emergency department certified to treat pediatric patients, Prime said.

Pediatric patients will continue to get treatment at outpatient clinics and from medical group practitioners.

Referrals to nearby hospitals

Anyone under 18 who requires a hospital stay will be transferred elsewhere.

Saint Joseph Medical Center intends to send pediatric patients to Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville, which is about 40 minutes away from the Joliet hospital.

But Joliet patients have an option closer to home.

Silver Cross Hospital, formerly in Joliet and now in neighboring New Lenox, has a pediatrics unit with 19 inpatient beds available, hospital Marketing and Communication Director Deb Robbins said.

“It is part of an overall demographic trend nationwide, where pediatric inpatient needs are declining across the United States as pediatric patients are increasingly treated in specialized children’s hospitals rather than general hospitals.”

—  Prime Healthcare

The daily census in the unit averages three to four patients, Robbins said.

Silver Cross also has an emergency department accredited to treat pediatric patients.

“Silver Cross employs 30 pediatric-trained registered nurses, 13 pediatric-trained certified nursing assistants, and we have 24-hour in-house pediatric coverage through our collaboration with Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago,” Robbins said.

Additionally, Silver Cross has other Lurie pediatric specialists who see pediatric inpatients regularly, such as orthopedic specialists, ear, nose and throat specialists, and urology specialists.

Silver Cross also has an on-campus pediatric outpatient clinic where patients have access to Lurie specialists “without parents having to travel to the city,” Robbins said.

Robbins repeatedly pointed to patient access to Lurie specialists as an asset for Silver Cross patients.

Changes in pediatric care

Prime Healthcare points to a market preference for pediatric specialists as a reason for a decline in its patient population.

“Pediatric volume has steadily declined at Saint Joseph Medical Center over recent years, with just over 200 yearly admissions and a daily census of less than 1 in 2024,” the Prime statement said.

“This is true for many other community hospitals,” Prime said. “It is part of an overall demographic trend nationwide, where pediatric inpatient needs are declining across the United States as pediatric patients are increasingly treated in specialized children’s hospitals rather than general hospitals.”

Ending pediatric services at Saint Joseph Medical Center is not totally up to Prime Healthcare, however.

The INA intends to object to ending pediatric care at what the union emphasizes is the only hospital in Joliet, the third largest city in the state.

Closing the unit will require approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, although Prime can shut down the unit while awaiting approval, said Alec Ramsay-Smith with INA.

“They have to justify the closure retroactively,” Ramsay-Smith said. “And, if it’s rejected, they’ll be required to reopen it.”

Prime can close the pediatric unit without state approval because it so far has defined the closure as temporary for one year.

The company as of Tuesday had notified the state of its intention to temporarily close the pediatric unit but has not applied for approval of permanent closure, John Kniery, administrator of the review board, said in an email.

“Prime did notify the HFSRB of its intent to temporarily suspend pediatric services at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Joliet, which requires monthly updates and cannot exceed 12 months without board approval,” Kniery said in an email.

That schedule gives Prime Healthcare a year to keep the pediatrics unit closed before getting definitive state approval.

The decline of the pediatric unit has likely been happening at least a year due to ongoing problems in hospital management, Ramsay-Smith said

“Ascension had a lot of trouble in convincing doctors to send their patients here,” Ramsay-Smith said, adding that the latest troubles at the hospital “have been a year or two in the making.”