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Read the press release here.

Our Lady of the Resurrection to Get New Name, New Owner Says

By Heather Cherone | September 22, 2014 4:09pm
  The Portage Park hospital will be known as Community First Medical Center after it is sold, its new owners said Monday.
The Portage Park hospital will be known as Community First Medical Center after it is sold, its new owners said Monday.
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DNAInfo/Heather Cherone

PORTAGE PARK — Our Lady of the Resurrection hospital will get a new name along with new owners, officials announced Monday.

The Portage Park hospital will be known as Community First Medical Center once the sale to Community First Healthcare of Illinois Inc. is finalized, according to a statement from Presence Health CEO John Baird.

Heather Cherone says the name change may not bring in new patients, but some other changes might:

Community First Healthcare, a benefit corporation formed to purchase the money-losing hospital, signed a "definitive agreement" to buy Our Lady of the Resurrection hospital and keep it open as a full-service hospital for at least five years, Baird said.

The new owners of the 269-bed hospital at 5645 W. Addison St. plan to invest $20 million during the next five years "in the facility and its programs."

Community First Healthcare's Ed Green, a health care lawyer and partner at the Chicago-based law firm Foley & Lardner, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Representatives of Presence Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A board made up of community members and doctors will oversee operations at the hospital, Baird's statement said.

Community First Healthcare will rehire all of the hospital's approximately 900 employees and maintain their salaries, titles, job duties, seniority, sick days and paid time off, Baird said.

Community First Healthcare is a "benefit corporation," which means under Illinois law that in addition to maximizing profit it has "the increased purpose of considering society and the environment in addition to seeking a profit."

All of the hospital's current services will be maintained, including its charity care and community programs, Baird said.

Presence Health announced in March that it would continue to provide services at the medical center — once known as Northwest Community Hospital — in an effort to help Community First Healthcare treat patients with chronic conditions and encourage patients to make healthy decisions.

Every year, more than 47,000 people visit Our Lady of the Resurrection’s emergency room, about 9,000 people are hospitalized there, and 3,600 patients undergo surgery at the hospital, which has been open since 1955, according to data provided by employees.

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Baird said.

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