UPTOWN — The owner of the now-closed Weiss Memorial Hospital is calling on the federal government to help revive the troubled medical facility while also defending himself against rising criticism of his ownership of the safety-net hospital.
Weiss Hospital, 4646 N. Marine Drive, closed Friday, a day before the hospital’s contract with federal health insurance plans Medicare and Medicaid was set to expire. Some departments — including radiology, cardiology and women’s health — are expected to remain open and operate more like a doctor’s office, a Weiss official said.
Without the ability to bill the federal health programs for services rendered, the hospital had no choice but to close, said Dr. Manoj Prasad, whose Resilience Healthcare owns Weiss.
Prasad said he is working with legislators to reopen the hospital and save West Suburban Medical Center, which he also own. But some critics — including Uptown area elected officials — say Weiss’ closure is because of Prasad’s cost-cutting style of management, amid other criticisms.
‘We Couldn’t Even Buy A Bottle Of Tylenol’
Prasad announced Friday that he was working with state legislators to appeal the federal health insurance decision — a process that could take up to a year with no certainty of success.
A closing sign posted outside Weiss Memorial Hospital, 4646 N. Marine Dr., Aug. 8, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush/Block Club Chicago
Resilience could also re-apply for its Medicare and Medicaid license with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Prasad said at a Friday press conference. Both strategies would require implementing changes recommended by state surveyors.
Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid told Weiss it was being removed from the health insurance programs after investigators found it was not in compliance with three conditions: nursing services, physical environment and emergency services. Investigators highlighted nursing shortages in the emergency department as one of their concerns.
Weiss’ removal from the health insurance programs came a month after its air conditioning failed, causing the hospital to refuse new patients and send existing patients to other medical facilities, including West Suburban, which is currently undergoing repairs for its own malfunctioning heating and cooling system, Prasad said.
“We want to make sure that we comply with everything that is needed, but given the 113 year-old-building [at West Suburban] and the 76-year-old building [at Weiss], that is not an easy task,” Prasad said. “It’s going to take a lot of funding, which we don’t have.”
Friday’s press conference was Prasad’s first time speaking publicly since federal regulators told him of Weiss’ removal from the program July 24 — a result of Resilience not being able to “afford a press person,” Prasad said.
Resilience Healthcare CEO Dr. Manoj Prasad addressing reporters alongside state Reps. La Shawn Ford and Camille Lilly, Aug. 8, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush/Block Club Chicago
Funding has long been a challenge for Resilience, which acquired Weiss and West Suburban for $92 million in late 2022 to “narrowly avoid a shutdown” after former owners Pipeline Healthcare left the hospital pair in an “impossible state” and ran a $50 million yearly deficit, Prasad said. Prasad was Weiss’ second owner in three years.
“We couldn’t even buy a bottle of Tylenol the first few weeks we were open,” he said. “No one has wanted to lend any money to us, so we’ve had to fight and figure it out.”
The hospitals were granted safety-net status in 2023 with the help of state lawmakers, meaning Resilience could get federal funding through the Medicare and Medicaid programs, but were seen as “low priority” facilities by the state, who allocates the funds, Prasad alleged.
“Somehow, we’ve managed to break even,” he said.
Medicare payments made up nearly 65 percent of Weiss’ inpatient revenues in 2024, according to the most recent data collected by the state.
Last week, Resilience applied for a $10 million loan from an undisclosed lender that would help fund West Suburban’s operations, but the firm was denied, Prasad said.
Prasad warned that West Suburban’s fate could be the same as Weiss’ if funds aren’t drawn up soon.
West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, across the street from Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, on March 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
‘He’s Kind Of An Elon Guy’
Neighbors and officials staged a rally outside Weiss Friday, calling for the hospital’s temporary reinstatement to the federal health programs while issues — including ownership — are sorted out.
Many at the rally, including former hospital employees, accused Prasad of “mismanagement” of the facility. But they are urging the federal government to keep the hospital open for the benefit of the facility’s over 700 employees and hundreds of returning patients reliant on its services, advocates and officials said.
“We have seen mismanagement over and over and over again from the current CEO of this hospital,” state Rep. Hoan Huynh said at the rally. “We’ve seen over and over again the lack of care for our nurses, for our doctors, for our patients. The CEO has stripped away this hospital to its bare bones.”
Huynh, state Sen. Mike Simmons and Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) each urged the CEO to face accountability at Friday’s rally. The legislators co-signed a letter to the Medicare Services administration calling on the federal government to give Weiss an eight-week extension before removing the hospital from the programs.
They hope that time will allow them to find a way to meet federal standards while keeping the hospital open, according to the letter. But to meet those standards, “administrative changes” would have to be made to the hospital, Huynh said.
State rep. Hoan Huynh stands among community organizers to rally for Weiss Memorial Hospital to stay open. Aug. 7, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush/Block Club Chicago
In a Friday press release, Uptown Ald. Angela Clay (46th) echoed that sentiment.
“Weiss’ ownership ignored violation after violation that put their federal funding in jeopardy without communicating to local officials or staff,” Clay said. “They were informed weeks ago that the hospital would have to close, and yet they didn’t take any actions to inform the community.”
Resilience defended itself from much of the criticism in a lengthy statement released to the press.
“Resilience Healthcare has faced both overwhelming challenges and unfair criticism,” the statement read. “What we would ask our numerous critics to understand is the dire situation we had to step into in December of 2022 when no one else was willing to. Without help from external lenders, we stepped forward and dedicated all our resources to save two community hospitals that were about to close.”
Weiss employees have long complained about a lack of transparency in leadership at the facility. Daniel Maser, a former emergency room nurse at Weiss, alleged that there had been “no communication” between himself and higher-ups as the hospital’s closure approached.
“I’ve watched decisions be made by the upper administration that shows they have no intent to actually make Weiss a successful and functional hospital,” Maser said.
Maser and other nurses complained to management about staffing shortages to no avail, and reports of dirty bedsheets and pillowcases were rampant. One day, an undisclosed vendor “came in and took the linens right off the hospital beds,” Maser said.
A rally hosted by elected officials, former staff and community activists calling on the federal government to save Weiss Memorial Hospital, 4646 N. Marine Dr., and for CEO Manoj Prasad to face accountability, Aug. 8, 2025. Credit: Charles Thrush/Block Club Chicago
One former employee who preferred to stay anonymous alleged that Prasad “came in and fired people willy-nilly.”
“He’s kind of an Elon [Musk] guy,” the employee said. “He treated the hospital like it was the [Department of Government Efficiency]. He’s a capitalist. He’d cut costs in every department and make everyone work twice as hard for the same amount of money, which no one liked.”
During his conference, Prasad acknowledged that when Resilience took over Weiss and West Suburban, the company cut out excess costs for “things not really impacting patient care,” which spurred “retaliatory” complaints from staff who were unhappy with the cuts or who “didn’t get promotions.”
Weiss’ ownership in 2021 sold off a hospital parking lot for $8 million to a developer who then built a 300-unit apartment building on the site, a move that was protested by neighbors who even camped out in the lot to stop the redevelopment of hospital grounds. Neighbors involved in the encampment argued the sale signaled a lack of investment in the hospital’s future and attended Friday’s rally, warning a land acquisition could be on the horizon for the lakefront property.
When asked about the possibility of selling the shuttered medical facility off to developers, Prasad said that his priority lies in healthcare and he has no intentions of putting the hospital on the market.
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