Illinois hospital’s savior faces tough task

After announcing plans to take over financially struggling St. Francis Hospital & Health Center in Blue Island, IL, hospital operator Transition Healthcare Co. is hoping to succeed where other for-profits have failed. The Chicago market has a history of being unfriendly to the for-profit business model. Pressures on the for-profit hospitals have translated to multiple ownership changes and high management turnover, as well as difficulty in building up enough market clout to compete with the non-profit hospital systems.