The future of St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island looks a little brighter today. The owners of the south suburban hospital say a tentative agreement has been reached with a potential buyer. SSM Healthcare previously announced it planned to close St. Francis because of financial concerns. Chris Sutton is a company spokesman.
SUTTON: We are cautiously optimistic, but we have kind of been down this road before. So over the next couple of days we’re going to continue to work through all the details. And this is certainly, you know, a step in the right direction.
Sutton says a deal fell through last month with one of the companies involved in the new agreement. That company, Transition Healthcare, could not be reached for comment.