Opposition to a proposed hospital in Huntley was vocal and unified last week, with numerous health care providers saying approval would give Centegra Health System a virtual stranglehold in the area and waste hundreds of millions of dollars already invested in the communities.
Centegra’s plan to build a 128-bed hospital at Haligus and Reed roads was subjected for the first time to public reaction at a hearing conducted at Huntley Village Hall by two officials of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, which must approve any new medical facility.
“We’re asking that this be stopped because it doesn’t make sense,” said Dan Colby, vice president of Mercy Health System, which has proposed a new hospital for Crystal Lake. “This (Huntley hospital) is not needed now. This is a monopoly Centegra is trying to create in this area. Competition is needed in this county.”
Mercy’s plan will be the subject of a hearing March 18.
Numerous health providers spoke out against Centegra’s $233 million project, arguing it was misleading to say that just because the state has identified a need for beds in McHenry County and portions of Kane and Cook counties, another hospital was the way to go.
There are currently six area hospitals, including Centegra’s McHenry and Woodstock hospitals, with open hospital beds available to serve patients, said Rick Floyd, president and chief executive officer at Sherman Health in Elgin. Additionally, many of those hospitals have urgent care centers and outpatient clinics throughout the region.
“A new hospital will inevitably draw patient volumes away from all the existing hospitals, weakening them,” he said. “When we unnecessarily duplicate expensive services, we place at risk our region’s traditions of excellence and innovation in patient care.”
Officials at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, which serves both Lake and McHenry counties, argued hospitals should do more with less.
“No matter which reform programs you may have favored, virtually no health care reform proposal has argued that the solution to the nation’s health care problem is to build more suburban hospitals,” said Karen Lambert, Advocate president. “Please don’t equate improved health care access with building a new hospital.”
Approval of the plan would hinder St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates and its ability to attract patients in the midst of a $117 million modernization program recently approved by the state board, said Ed Goldberg, St. Alexius president and CEO.
Centegra’s 360,000-square-foot facility would have a dedicated women’s center, all private patient rooms, a full-service emergency department with a Level II trauma designation, nursery, non-invasive cardiology services, and a helipad.
Mercy Health System is proposing to build in Crystal Lake at Route 31 and Three Oaks Road. Its $200 million hospital would include 100 acute-care medical and surgery beds, 20 obstetric and eight intensive care units, an emergency department and a focus on geriatrics. A proposed multi-specialty clinic would be attached to the hospital.
The state health facilities board tentatively plans to vote on both proposals May 10.
lsynett@tribune.com
