Uptown Psychiatric Hospital Losing Federal Funding Gives First Comments
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CHICAGO, IL (WBBM) — CBS 2 is hearing from the harshest critics and the biggest defenders of an Uptown psychiatric hospital.
Chicago Lakeshore Hospital is losing its federal funding and facing lawsuits alleging abuse of patients, CBS 2 first reported Tuesday night.
Funding “will be terminate,” effective this past Monday because they are “not in compliance” with patient care.
That was the report card from federal agents this week about the hospital where thousands come each year for substance and psychological issues.
That review means funding for Medicare and Medicaid is done.
“They were suicide risks, they were cords, they were things like glass, doors that don’t lock when they are vacant,” Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said.
He’s taking the hospital to court on separate allegations of sexual and physical abuse of young psych patients, some as young as seven, at the hands of hospital staff and other patients.
The loss of funding was unrelated to that, but the hospital had ample time to salvage things.
“It was safety violations and they’ve had a year and a half to address them and they have not done so,” Golbert said.
In a statement to CBS 2, the hospital says, “In light of all that has been taken out of context, distorted, or exaggerated, it has been difficult over the last year to give justice to the great care Chicago Lakeshore Hospital provides every day..”
Whether the end of Medicaid and Medicare dollars will mean the end of the facility that cares for 5,000 patients annually, they said:
“We will continue to provide the best mental health and substance use disorder care for the residents of Chicago and Illinois while we examine our options.”
In the meantime, the hunt is on to find new homes for Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Facilities that are in compliance for competent care.
CBS 2 asked the hospital how much of their operating budget relied on those Medicaid and Medicare dollars to offer up how crippling this loss of funding is.
They did not answer those questions.
They are a privately owned hospital whose budgets are not public.
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