>> Community advocates are pushing for to shuttered safety net hospitals in the Chicago area to reopen their doors.

Park's west suburban medical center and Uptown twice hospital both closed this past year following federal funding cuts and reports of poor infrastructure and working conditions.

But there may still be hope for the hospitals.

As a judge weighs a proposed deal that could pave the way for new ownership.

Joining us, our Reverend Robin Hood of Redeemed Outreach Ministries and co-founder of Mothers opposed to violence everywhere and Lily Lake community organizing director of the Vietnamese Association of Illinois.

Thanks to both.

Welcome back to Chicago tonight.

Thank So river in west suburban Rice, they've both been closed for months now.

Weiss, sometime last year.

Have the community's been affected by this closures?

It's with affected very badly because both hospital served thousands of people.

And if pay attention to where those hospitals Yeah, I'm black and brown communities.

that works.

That makes middle money.

either the unemployed so anytime that happens, it puts a strain on the whole system.

The county can't take it anymore.

So when you close with a west Suburban will the west the wife on off that?

>> You get us in the middle and everything in the middle costs money.

So it's a very negative to impact.

Not What are you hearing from people?

I'm here for people, things totally makes to me.

Now.

7 grocery stores close last week.

Uk eat a salad without getting in trouble and now you can't go to the hospital.

All this is happening that mean, that been a conspiracy theory.

Now I'm a What we've been told for the last few years that these things was coming down and that's why we formed the coalition, the Safe Safety Hospital.

We had this problem wife's me alone.

Moshi Kohl's back during the middle of a pandemic.

We had this problem with Bethenny Advocate.

House will close on the West right before epidemic.

So it is devastating to what's happening.

And know it sounds like people people feel like it is just stacking up on them with that.

The number of different things that you mentioned, the grocery store can salad or fear cyclists for really walk us through how we got here.

How did these hospitals into closing their doors?

>> Yes, so really the first warning sign was few years back with the parking lot sell happened for the Weis Hospital.

>> As you know at the time parking lot sale happened and it was redeveloped into high income luxury apartment buildings.

And we had warned the community have warned back then that this was the beginning of the end for the Weis hospital.

And we saw the current owner Dr Persaud step in and run the hospital to the ground.

No proper management the facility is now shut down as it's no longer in meeting, the code.

few months later west by Ben also shuts down.

And we're seeing those as private equity, private business owner coming in exploiting the resources of these 2 major institutions in our communities.

And as Robin Hood said, the folks that suffer are the patients, the staff and the communities that don't have their safety nets to go to.

>> So there's a legal settlement settlement that's been proposed by the landlord of the 2 hospitals.

It would remove the CEO minutes per side and resilience.

Health care from managing the hospitals allow InSight Health, which operates Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville to take over management southwest Suburban and Weiss and potentially great a path to reopening both hospitals under new leadership.

Now.

side and resilience which owns west Suburban, as we've mentioned, have reportedly backed away from this deal, saying that they no longer want to proceed.

But attorneys for the landlord argue that the settlement was already finalizing, that the judge now needs to come to a determination of whether or not this is legally enforceable.

Lily, what concerns do you have as this legal fight drags on?

>> We know from the past almost 4 year of fighting to reopen Weiss and now fighting to reopen west of Burbank.

There's been so many convoluted conversations with both between the elected and the owners, also with the communities.

We're constantly asking what is the plan to reopen these hospitals?

And we're not getting a clear answer.

There's been radio silence from the ownership.

No communication or transparency around what their actual plan is.

And the same time the governor's office has also been largely silent on the issue.

And we know that the hospital's own millions of dollars in state taxes, theirs.

No accountability mechanism to hold these owners accountable before running down these hospitals.

And this is why we're seeing that how important it is for the government to now to have to step in to work with the communities to listen to us and have a credible plan to invest in and fund fireball, sustainable health facilities in our low income but only by brown immigrant communities.

Do you think that this proposed settlement is the best opportunity to reopen these hospitals best way to do This is just the beginning.

the conversations have been stalling for so long.

It's been months and we know that.

No matter what happens with these hospitals under new responsible ownership, the community has to be at the table.

Any action moving forward has to include the input from the community side from the worker's side on the futures of both of these hospitals in partnership with State Leadership.

Reverend Hood, you've warned and you've got concerns that more safety net hospitals could be on the chopping block as well.

Which ones are you concerned about?

>> Moos said rose to have hospital have already said they the out of money couple weeks ago.

The thing that, possibly the most legislators pass and the bill.

That protects hospitals from lack of transparency.

That's a big issue.

We get here because there was no trash parish.

Now there's actually a that allows lows to not tell the community there about the cold, say anything.

So we're a town hall meeting.

this month, August 31st.

That map scholarships.

68.

And inviting every last one.

I legislate because they have to tell why table for this.

We the trespass.

So now every a hospital close workers will come to work and going do with clothes that no longer have a patients coming.

This is life or death.

This is not a. So there needs to be higher accountability coming from the governor.

So so you've call you can call them.

The governor in the governor's office says that the situation is ultimately a private business failure.

In a statement from his office, he says, quote.

>> Despite intensive financial and operational support from the state of Illinois throughout resilience, health 10 year west Suburban and white hospitals are ultimately private facilities whose leadership is both unable and unwilling to do everything in their power necessary to keep their facilities in operation.

And they never presented the state with any formal request or viable plan to continue operations at this time.

All former west suburban patients have been safely transitioned to new providers.

Lily, why do you think the state still bears responsibility here?

When it comes to hospitals, especially safety net hospitals that serve low-income patients without turning people away based on their ability to pay.

>> When the governor says that this is a private matter, this is not just private dealings.

There's a real impact on the public.

So we're viewing this as a public health issued a public health emergency where the state and the governor is responsible to the community to the public on how these health facilities, these hospitals will continue to operate.

So the and well, it sounds like, you know, until the state's, you know, decides to step in.

It doesn't like for now, it is in the hands of the courts.