CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago’s oldest hospital has announced it will close next year after the state failed to finance its merger with three other money-losing hospitals. Mercy Hospital & Medical Center president Carol Schneider says an outpatient facility is in the works that will be able to care for up to 50,000 patients. A $1.1 billion plan announced in March and later abandoned, called for the merger of Mercy Hospital, South Shore Hospital, Advocate Trinity Hospital and St. Bernard Hospital. The plan included the construction of one new hospital and a network of community health centers.
