Lincoln Park Hospital For Sale

The impact of the worsening credit crisis is spreading to the Chicago-area hospital scene.

Lincoln Park Hospital is on the sales block, partly because the difficulties of getting financing are making it difficult to run the facility, sources say.

Despite its location in one of Chicago's toniest neighborhoods, the facility is in a difficult situation for a variety of reasons.

For one, it serves many patients insured by the state Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. Hospitals have complained that Illinois is slow to pay such claims, which can be problematic for some hospitals in managing their cash flow.

Also, these days, hospitals are under pressure to keep their facilities up to date with the latest in amenities and medical technology or they run the risk of losing patients to rivals. Lincoln Park is in a competitive neighborhood with better capitalized facilities such as Advocate Health Care's Illinois Masonic Medical Center just a few blocks to the north. Childrens Memorial is around the block and Northwestern Memorial is a 10-minute cab ride downtown.

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