W E D N E S D A Y
April 22, 2026 Vol. 46, No. 42
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JOURNAL @oakpark
Homegrown Back Alley Band is gaining traction
of Oak Park and River Forest
Page 14
With West Suburban closed, where will pregnant Austin residents deliver? VIA LOOP NET.
11 W. Madison Ave.
Oak Park police station ‘quick take’ bid moves forward Process moves to state house as U.S. Bank challenges eminent domain case in county court By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
Labor and delivery services at the hospital ceased last summer, affecting maternal health on West Side By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Oak Park’s plan to acquire a U.S. Bank building with Springfield’s approval moved forward last week, but the bank is still fighting the village. Oak Park’s village board voted in January to start the “quick take” process for the bank branch at 11 Madison St with the plan of acquiring the building so it could be converted into a
Before West Suburban Medical Center’s labor and delivery, postpartum and nursery units closed last July, doctors from PCC Community Wellness Center, who worked out of the hospital, delivered about 50 babies a month there. For years, PCC providers were West Suburban’s main delivery personnel. With West Suburban closing the rest of its patient services March 27 — and announcing a limited reopening of some primary care services last week — expectant mothers in Austin still have nowhere to deliver in their own neighborhood. The next closest hospitals with
See BANK on page 17
See MATERNITY on page 11
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