W E D N E S D A Y
February 6, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 28 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
State-bound swimmers Sports, page 41
‘Execution is where the rubber meets the road’ D97 focuses on implementing ‘nation-leading’ racial equity policy By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
If the application is approved, the closure could be finalized by the second quarter of this year, officials said. Westlake employs around 670 people, 200 of them “on an as-needed basis,” officials added. Pipeline Health officials said that they’ll invite qualified Westlake employ-
Gary Ford, an eighth-grader at Julian Middle School, will enter his high school years burdened by a mountain of experiences like the one he said he went through a few years ago. “I’m tired of differential treatment,” he told members of the Oak Park Elementary Schools District 97 Board of Education during a regular meeting on Feb. 12. “In my integrated studies class in sixth grade, a teacher let some white kids sit on their phones and play games, but when I pulled out my phone to check my grades, she told me to put it away or she was going to take it, even though she knew I was checking my grades.” Ford was among a half-dozen current and former D97 students who shared their racially tinged testimonies at last week’s meeting, where the board’s focus was on tweaking the language of a draft equity policy that garnered unanimous praise from local education advocates who spoke during the meeting. But most of the praise that community leaders issued about the draft policy was tempered by a collective caution, best summed up in the students’ stories, i.e. a strong policy without effective
See WEST SUBURBAN on page 15
See EQUITY POLICY on page 14
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
CONSOLIDATION AHEAD? State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch during a Feb. 18 press conference outside of Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park. Welch, a Westlake trustee, said he believes Pipeline Health lied about wanting to save the hospital during the purchasing process.
West Sub’s new owner proposes Westlake closure If state OKs Pipeline Health request, West Sub may absorb some in-patient services, employees By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park has a significant role to play in the recent decision made by its new owner, Los Angeles-based Pipeline Health, to close Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park. Representatives with Pipeline Health
LLC and TWG Partners — the two forprofit entities that purchased Westlake Hospital in January before announcing over the weekend plans to close the hospital — said in a statement released Feb. 16 that they plan to file an application next week with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board to close the 230-bed Melrose Park hospital.
Education, Enrichment & Camp Fair
Tuesday, March 12, 4 - 7 pm Julian Middle School Cafeteria Parents, find the perfect fit for your child at our Enrichment & Camp Fair! A FREE event!