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OSF HealthCare buys Cottage properties for $4 million

Cottage Hospital
Jane Carlson
/
Tri States Public Radio
Galesburg's Cottage Hospital, shown here on Jan. 7.

A spokesperson for OSF HealthCare confirmed the sale was complete this week and said “any further details will be released if or when appropriate.”

OSF HealthCare acquired multiple parcels of real estate from Galesburg’s Cottage Hospital for $4 million.

The sale was recorded April 12, according to the Knox County Assessor’s Office.

According to parcel numbers and property tax records, the sale includes the following properties in Galesburg:

  • 695 N. Kellogg St., Cottage Hospital
  • 765 N. Kellogg St., Cottage Professional Building
  • 834 N. Seminary St., Cottage Medical Arts Clinic
  • 756 N. Kellogg St.

It also includes 902 E. Main St. in Knoxville, according to parcel numbers and property tax records.

OSF HealthCare, which operates OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg, has not commented on how it will use the properties.

In February, OSF announced it was buying real estate, medical equipment, and other assets from Cottage.

Officials said at the time OSF did not plan to offer in-patient services at the site.

A spokesperson for OSF HealthCare confirmed the sale was complete this week and said “any further details will be released if or when appropriate.”

Cottage Hospital terminated the majority of its remaining staff and suspended operations on Jan. 8, days before it was set to lose Medicare and Medicaid funding due to numerous violations.

Though hospital administrators said the closure was temporary, the Illinois Department of Public Health later revoked the hospital’s license.

Cottage CEO Sanjay Sharma of SBJ Group, Inc., filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy for the clinics affiliated with the hospital on Jan. 3.

Bankruptcy filings indicate the clinics remain in operation, but at greatly reduced capacity, with one physician employed as of last month.

It’s not clear what the sale of the properties to OSF means for remaining Cottage operations at this time.

Here’s a look back at the transfer of Cottage property over the years:

  • Founded in 1893, Cottage was an independent, non-profit hospital until 2004, when it sold to Community Health Systems of Brentwood, Tenn., a for-profit company. The $24 million sale included much of the hospital’s debt at the time.
  • In 2015, Community Health Systems spun off several of its properties, including Cottage Hospital and Cottage Clinics, into Quorum Health Corporation. In bankruptcy filings, Quorum claimed its “Galesburg entities” lost more than $20 million in operating expenses in 2018 and 2019.
  • Quorum filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The company had been trying to sell Cottage for several years prior to that, according to filings.
  • In 2020, Quorum sold Cottage Hospital and Cottage Clinics to SBJ Group for $1 million, plus $800,000 in net working capital. Originally this was to be a cash purchase, but SBJ Group later changed its offer from an asset transaction to a purchase of the equity interests of Cottage, according to filings.
  • In April 2022, the non-profit OSF HealthCare bought multiple parcels of real estate from Galesburg Cottage Hospital for $4 million.

Tri States Public Radio produced this story.  TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.

Jane Carlson is TSPR's regional reporter.