Chicago hospitals funnel patients into long-lasting guardianships, angering friends and family

As Gary Ellis lay dying in August 2023, no one at the facility caring for him called his son.

Instead, staffers called Ellis’ court-appointed state guardian, who had recently taken charge of all decisions related to the 69-year-old man’s care. Not until it was too late did Gary Brown learn his father had been at death’s door, Brown told the Tribune.

“When I went there the nurse was like, ‘We’ve been trying to call someone all night but nobody answered the phone,’” Brown said. “All I got was ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t do nothing to help me or my dad.”

The scenario was exactly what Brown feared when he learned, to his surprise, that Northwestern Memorial Hospital had moved to appoint a guardian for his father. The family said Northwestern had been treating the retired CTA bus driver for months, except for a brief stint at a rehabilitation facility, after he suffered a fall in April 2023.

Ellis’ family told the Tribune that by mid-May the hospital began pressuring them to approve a transfer to a nursing facility, saying his insurance coverage had stopped. Brown said he was still trying to navigate his best option when a judge signed off on the temporary guardianship petition, taking away Brown’s ability to decide anything on his father’s behalf.
(snip)

In many cases, guardianship eased the way for hospitals to discharge patients to subpar nursing homes, sometimes bypassing family members who disagreed with the hospital’s choice or were slow to make other arrangements.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/23/guardianship-chicago-hospitals/

Trust me, this doesn't happen only in Chicago. It's a nationwide problem and will happen so long as we have privatized healthcare.