Federal court cases lodged against Resilience Healthcare before West Suburban, Weiss Hospital closed

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Resilience Healthcare faced several lawsuits in federal court since 2023, after Manoj Prasad bought West Suburban and Weiss Memorial Hospitals.

ABC7 Chief Legal Analyst Gil Soffer told the ABC7 I-Team the breadth and variety of the suits could indicate a company in peril.

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"It's not unusual for companies to be sued, of course, and it's not unusual for them to be sued for breach of contract, but it starts to get unusual when you have one after another after another piling up," Soffer told the I-Team.

Of these federal court lawsuits, many were dismissed against Resilience Healthcare. But Soffer says it's the types of cases and assortment of plaintiffs that signaled the company was struggling.

"The number of these disputes, the variety of the disputes, the various different sources of the lawsuits really paint a picture of a company, of a hospital, that's in serious distress," Soffer said.

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In December, one case resulted in Resilience Healthcare being ordered to pay almost $115,000 in outstanding bills and attorneys fees to a company providing parking services at Weiss Memorial. The judge's order came after Weiss had already closed.

Another ongoing case was filed last fall by a healthcare service provider for a breach of contract dispute over invoice payments for the price of medical equipment leased, and equipment repair services performed at West Suburban, potentially totaling millions of dollars.

Another plaintiff contends West Suburban violated labor law by failing to offer an option to continue healthcare after employment.

And there is an ongoing lawsuit claiming race and compensation discrimination, and retaliation by West Suburban.

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Questions remain on what the future holds for these lawsuits and the ability of any entity, state or private, to recoup money from the shuttered hospitals.

"If there is a bankruptcy then it changes the whole picture. Then the bankruptcy trustee, receiver, court, get involved and decide how much can be available and paid to whom, and its cents on the dollar, but it's certainly not a full dollar return," Soffer said.

A spokesperson for Resilience said, "We are not able to comment on pending litigation."

With so many questions still unanswered at this point, and no firm public plan to reopen West Suburban or Weiss, a full picture of what comes next for the hospitals and the cases against Resilience Healthcare in court is unknown.

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