In the News

Daily Herald, March 16, 2007

SPRINGFIELD — State senators approved a plan Thursday to extend the life of the controversial state board in charge of regulating hospital construction.

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board is set to dissolve on April 1, effectively pulling the plug on health-care facilities in the midst of seeking approval to build new hospitals and medical centers. The plan to keep the board intact for another five years was proposed by state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat.

Her plan also would add four members to the five-person board, a move she said could add expertise and medical experience to the group. However, the proposal doesn’t mandate new members have any sort of minimum qualifications.

“Not everybody is in agreement or on the same page, but because of that we’re going to have a very open process. We will get a finished process that’s acceptable,” Garrett said. The proposal passed the Senate by a vote of 56-1, and now goes to the state House for a vote.

The only vote against the proposal came from state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat. He said he supports abolishing the construction board as it exists now in favor of starting from scratch, but new members would have to be either health professionals, academics, or have a background in the health-care business.

Adding members would bring back four seats eliminated in the wake of a 2004 federal investigation involving allegations that hospitals were pressured to hire politically connected firms in order to get the board’s approval.

Garrett said the board is needed to continue overseeing hospital construction and operations. But during the next five years, she added, it would be important to implement reforms in how the board makes its decisions.

Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, agreed, saying he’s in favor of keeping a regulatory board, but said reforms must be worked on as the plan progresses.

Some lawmakers were concerned medical facilities would abandon poorer areas where people rely on government-funded programs in favor of higher-income areas where more patients are covered by private insurance if there’s no board overseeing construction and expansion.

House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego said he wants to make sure the board, in whatever form, addresses the need for medical centers in fast-growing suburban communities.

Edward Hospital in Naperville was recently shot down by the hospital panel in its application for a new facility in Plainfield. Board members said the area doesn’t need a new hospital now. Edward officials have said they plan to resubmit the proposal in the near future.