System urges Ill. to clean up CON board fast

Adventist Health System, Winter Park, Fla., pleaded with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the state Legislature to quickly appoint a new certificate-of-need board and resume the CON review process. Adventist is one of five health systems that have proposals for new hospitals pending before the board, in Adventist's case a $152 million hospital in Bolingbrook, Ill. On Wednesday Blagojevich imposed a moratorium on all meetings and actions by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which is caught in a criminal investigation over alleged kickbacks for project approvals. Adventist operates hospitals in the Chicago suburbs of Glendale Heights, Hinsdale and LaGrange. Legislation has been introduced to dissolve the current CON board and allow Blagojevich to name replacements. The moratorium will block the current board from taking any actions if the proposed legislation has not passed by Aug. 18, the date of the next scheduled CON board meeting, a governor's spokeswoman said. CON board Executive Secretary Jeffrey Mark said the board and its staff will follow the direction of the governor and Legislature. -- by Mark Taylor