Lawyers for one of the owners of West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial Hospital are pushing to sell the hospitals for $1 to Insight Health Systems and demote the other owner and CEO into a temporary consulting position.
That change in ownership is a part of a potential settlement in the ongoing legal battle for control of the hospitals between the two owners: Resilience Healthcare chief executive officer Manoj Prasad and the hospitals’ landlord, Rathnakar Reddy Patlola.
Patlola’s attorneys filed a motion Friday asking Cook County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Stanton to either enforce the settlement agreement or appoint a receiver to take control of the hospital. The lawyers also accuses Prasad and his legal team of delaying the process and jeopardizing the settlement.
The potential settlement was finalized in late May, but only made public for the first time in a Friday court filing. Patlola’s lawyers worked out the settlement agreement with a former lawyer for Prasad. That lawyer has since left the case, citing differences with Prasad. Prasad’s new attorneys are now pushing for a new settlement agreement, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Under the draft settlement filed Friday, Prasad would step down as CEO, something he has resisted and the communities surrounding West Suburban and Weiss have been pleading for.
He would be able to continue as a consultant for the hospitals for up to six months, earning $100,000. He would also get to keep the title to a 2022 Range Rover Sport currently owned by a subsidiary of Resilience, according to the potential deal.
The draft settlement says both hospitals would be sold for $1 to Insight, which runs Insight Hospital and Medical Center — formerly Mercy Hospital — in Bronzeville. In 2021, Insight bought Mercy for $1 when it was about to close its doors.
Representatives for Prasad and Insight did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Read the full motion here: