The village asserted Pipeline did not tell the bankruptcy court about the Cook County injunction. The village claimed the bankruptcy case was filed in “bad faith,” merely to sidestep the Cook County court order. Melrose Park responded to the bankruptcy filing first by asking the federal bankruptcy judge handling Pipeline’s bankruptcy case to reject Pipeline’s Chapter 7 petition. That is when Pipeline said it moved to file bankruptcy, according to the Aug. It also said it was unable to find a buyer willing to continue operating Westlake. 13 in Cook County court, Pipeline said it attempted to negotiate a deal to end the standoff, but to no avail. Melrose Park, through its attorneys with the firm of Edelson P.C., which it hired specifically to prosecute its case against Pipeline, secured a court order to force Pipeline to keep Westlake open as the village continues its legal fight. The village asserts Westlake is essential to health care in the community and the region, and particularly for low income residents and families in and around Melrose Park. The village claims Pipeline promised to keep the hospital open and functioning at its prior service levels, but instead moved within two weeks of taking ownership to close the hospital. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has also joined the court fight. However, Pipeline’s move to close Westlake has been frustrated for months by lawsuits filed by the village of Melrose Park. The company asked the court to appoint a trustee to decide whether to allow the hospital to close – a goal sought by Pipeline since shortly after it purchased the hospital, along with three other suburban hospitals, at the beginning of 2019.
The hospital says those monthly losses are on top of $31 million lost in 2018.
In those filings, Pipeline claimed the hospital has lost millions of dollars each month, and could not continue operating. The flurry of competing motions in courtrooms in Delaware and Chicago came days after the entity known as Pipeline-Westlake Hospital LLC filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on Aug. 12, Pipeline Health Systems filed a complaint in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, asserting Melrose Park violated the “automatic stay” normally imposed on creditors when it filed a motion in Cook County court, asking a judge to impose sanctions on Pipeline because the holding company for Westlake Hospital filed for bankruptcy in a bid to win protection to close the financially troubled hospital. As a Cook County judge prepares to handle the question of whether to hold the owner of a Melrose Park hospital in contempt for filing bankruptcy, the hospital owner has in turn asked a federal bankruptcy judge to find the village of Melrose Park broke federal law by asking the Cook County judge to find them in contempt.
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