Social-service advocates say Illinois overtime ban could cause 'chaos'

Illinois social-service advocates are girding themselves for the worst as a new ban on most overtime for home healthcare workers goes into effect.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration said the state can't afford the extra money to comply with a federal government ruling that requires overtime to be paid at time and a half. The ruling took effect May 1.

The ban could save millions of dollars for the state, which is billions in debt. But advocates say it would cause chaos. The ban affects about 24,000 personal assistants and the disabled residents under their charge. The employees say they have trouble finding people to relieve them after 40 hours of work, adding that few people want to do such work for $13 an hour.

An Associated Press analysis of home healthcare workloads shows personal assistants claim about $14 million in overtime annually. The AP found about one-quarter of assistants work overtime, earning an average of just under $2,000 extra a year. —Aurora Aguilar

Despite being so busy that annoyed emergency room patients often leave before seeing a doctor, a big plan that includes expanding the ER at University of Chicago Medicine has hit a few snags.

The South Side academic medical center wants to add too many beds to the ER, the construction tab for the nearly $270 million project is too high, and the number of extra inpatient beds for overnight stays at the three-hospital campus isn't necessary. That's according to a report from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.

In a statement, UChicago Medicine President Sharon O'Keefe said the system appreciated that the board took time to review its proposal, and found that its application met more than a dozen other state standards.

“We are encouraged to be one step closer to delivering the care our community wants and needs, and remain confident the board will see the merits of our proposal to increase access to care on Chicago's South Side,” O'Keefe said.

The nine-member system board will consider the staff report when it casts an initial vote on UChicago Medicine's GetCARE project on May 10. The board, which decides the fate of healthcare projects to prevent duplicating services, isn't always swayed by its staff, and may approve the proposal.

UChicago Medicine revealed its GetCARE plan in February, a three-prong approach to alleviate overcrowding and boost services.

The proposal calls for a Level I adult trauma center (the highest state designation) long sought by activists; relocating and expanding the chronically overcrowded ER; and transforming the health system's 33-year-old Mitchell Hospital into a cancer-care specialty facility with 188 more inpatient beds. —Kristen Schorsch, Crain's Chicago Business