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WEST SIDE GROUPS CONFRONT STATE
REGULATORS OVER CONTROVERSIAL BETHANY HOSPITAL CUTS
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Condemn Board’s Decision to Hold Public Hearing Away from
Community, on Election Day; Denounce Closed-Door Meeting on
Advocate Health Care’s City vs. Suburban Spending Practices
MARCH 14, 2006—A state agency that regulates major hospital
expenditures has deprived West Side residents
of
a fair opportunity to comment on proposed cuts to Advocate
Bethany Hospital – and on the larger racial implications of
its parent company’s spending patterns – an alliance of
religious and community groups said Tuesday.
The groups appeared at a meeting of the Illinois Health
Facilities Planning Board (IHFPB) – their first opportunity
to come face-to-face with the regulators who will determine
Bethany’s fate. Bethany’s owner, Advocate Health Care, has
applied to the IHFPB for permission to eliminate the West
Side hospital’s OB/GYN services, mental health unit and
substance abuse program – on top of its recent closure of
major emergency room services.
The groups strongly condemned the IHFPB’s decision to
authorize a public hearing on the Bethany cuts under
circumstances that will inhibit public participation. The
hearing has been scheduled on the same day as the Illinois
primary elections (March 21st) – when people also need to
take time out of their day to vote – and at a downtown
location, rather than in the neighborhoods where hospital
patients reside.
“The cynical decision to schedule this public hearing at an
inopportune time and at an inconvenient location is,
unfortunately, characteristic of Advocate Health Care, which
has systematically attempted to exclude West Side residents
from joining the discussion about the future of their local
hospital,” said Rev. C. J. Wright, Pastor of Christ English
Lutheran Church. “It’s ironic that citizens will be forced
to choose between attending this hearing and voting, when
both are vital forms of public accountability. This hearing
should be held on a different day and on the West Side.
Holding it in the Loop is just one more way to keep West
Siders out of the loop.”
West Siders said they that have also been excluded from
discussions between the IHFPB and Advocate about whether the
company has favored its suburban facilities over its
inner-city hospitals. Late last year, the board ordered
Advocate to disclose it future investment practices for its
inner-city hospitals in exchange for regulatory approval of
a $239 million expansion at the company’s Lutheran General
Hospital in Park Ridge.
Advocate officials subsequently held a closed door meeting
with IHFPB staff to discuss the issue. On Tuesday, IHFPB
staff will report to regulators on those spending plans,
despite never having heard from residents of the inner-city
communities where Advocate’s investments have dissipated.
For instance, according to IHFPB public records, Advocate
has spent $605 million on capital improvements at its
hospitals serving predominantly white, largely affluent
communities over the past decade, compared to only $47
million its facilities located in neighborhoods with mostly
low-income minority populations.
The IHFPB hearing comes as opposition to the controversial
Bethany cuts continues to proliferate rapidly. At a City
Council hearing late last month, Aldermen rebuked Advocate
officials for misrepresenting their plans for Bethany, after
repeatedly stating last year that the company would maintain
its investment in the hospital. On Sunday, more than 200
West Side residents converged on the Bethany. Then yesterday
the Cook County Board’s Health and Hospitals Committee
unanimously adopted a resolution calling on County health
officials to conduct a study of the impact from the Bethany
cuts.
Critics charge that the closure of major services at Bethany
represents a betrayal of Advocate’s public obligations. As a
non-profit, religiously affiliated hospital system, Advocate
collects more than $75 million annually in tax breaks. In
exchange it is required to provide community benefits, such
as low-cost or free health care to the poor and uninsured.
These two populations are highly prevalent in the West Side
neighborhoods Bethany serves.
In fact, hospitalization rates on the West Side are twice
the city average for mental illness and three times higher
for substance abuse. Treatment for both those ailments would
be eliminated at Bethany under Advocate’s plan. In some West
Side neighborhoods, the mortality rate from assault averaged
192 percent higher than the city-wide average. |
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Hospital Accountability Project, Service Employees International Union
40 N. Wells, Suite 300 Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 541-9566
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