Pipeline Health System, which includes seven hospitals in three states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 2.
El Segundo, Calif.-based Pipeline said the decision to enter bankruptcy was prompted by several factors, including financial challenges tied to skyrocketing costs and delayed payments from insurance plans.
"We intend for the restructuring process to allow our hospitals to remain open and operating in their communities, while putting the hospital system in a more secure and sustainable financial position going forward," Pipeline CEO Andrei Soran said in an Oct. 3 news release.
During the bankruptcy process, the company said it will try to complete the planned sale of two Illinois hospitals to Resilience Healthcare. The Illinois State Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted in June to allow Pipeline to sell Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Ill. Pipeline said it will attempt to find a new buyer for the hospitals if Resilience is unable to close the sale.
Pipeline acquired Weiss Memorial Hospital, West Suburban Medical Center and Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in January 2019. Pipeline closed Westlake Hospital later that year.
Outside of Illinois, Pipeline operates a hospital in Dallas and four hospitals in the Los Angeles area.