Chicagoland

Maryville hospital poised for sale

By Michelle Martin | Staff Writer
Sunday, August 10, 2014

The exterior of Maryville Behavioral Health Hospital in Des Plaines. National behavioral health firm US HealthVest is poised to purchase the facility for $23 million, pending the approval of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. (Photo provided)

Maryville is hoping to get out of the behavioral health business within the next two months.

Maryville, based in Des Plaines, started as an orphanage 130 years ago. It still offers residential care for children, as well as a variety of family support, outreach and educational programs. It acquired the behavioral health hospital, 555 Wilson Lane, Des Plaines, in 1999.

In its 15 years as part of Maryville, the hospital has lost money nearly every year, said Maryville communications director John Gorman. The losses have been mounting in recent years as the number of patients has dwindled, with the hospital losing $6 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The hospital lost $4 million the previous year.

Under Maryville’s ownership, the hospital served mentally ill children and adolescents up to age 21.

“It has been a losing proposition in all but one year,” Gorman said, saying most patients have been covered by Medicaid. The state health care program pays less than $900 a day for children’s in-patient psychiatric care while the actual cost of providing that care tops $1,100 a day, he said.

The 125-bed facility generally has had at most 50- some patients, Gorman said. Recently, there have been only “a handful” of patients, he said. Maryville announced its intention to phase out the hospital in March.

National behavioral health firm US HealthVest is poised to purchase the facility for $23 million, pending the approval of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Sister Catherine M. Ryan, Maryville’s executive director, has said that the application is expected to be on the agenda for the board’s Aug. 27 meeting.

US HealthVest was formed in 2013 by members of the former leadership team of Ascend Health, another psychiatric health care company, which was formed in 2005 and sold to the publicly traded Universal Health Services in 2012.

U.S. HealthVest has indicated that it will serve adult patients as well as children and adolescents.

Ryan has told her staff that New York-based US HealthVest “has indicated that it will attempt to retain/ rehire as many of Maryville’s hospital employees as possible in order to expedite a smooth transition of operations.”

If the health services review board approves the sale, Maryville and US HealthVest hope to close on the deal in September, Gorman said.

Topics:

  • maryville hospital

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