Caring for poor, hospitals reach brink of closure

Two Illinois charity hospitals are asking the state’s permission to shut down after serving low-income residents for more than 100 years.

A state board will consider the fate of Oak Forest Hospital in Chicago’s South suburbs and Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis on Tuesday.

The institutions represent a significant development that’s gone largely unnoticed as the nation climbs out of the recession.

Many charity hospitals already struggling with rising costs are on the brink of failure because of looming budget cuts, increasing numbers of uninsured patients and a slow economic recovery.

Safety net hospitals have closed in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New York in recent years. And experts say the number will be growing as states continue to cut health care funding.