Adventist System hospitals in Hinsdale, Bolingbrook and Glendale Heights objected to the proposed construction of a new Elmhurst Hospital on the south side of the city.

At a recent hearing by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, Elmhurst Hospital provided general letters of support from other area hospitals.

State, county and local officials also expressed support for the new hospital, which has been priced at $475 million for an 875,000-square-foot facility near the northwest corner of York and Roosevelt roads.

In the early stages of a four and one-half hour hearing, an Adventist executive mentioned a potential negative impact on existing facilities and said the proposed new hospital was unnecessary.

It drew a sharp retort near the end of the hearing in the Elmhurst City Council chamber from an attorney for Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare (EMHC).

“A hospital system that owns and operates four hospitals within 30 minutes travel time of our hospital should not be allowed to squeeze a competitor out of the market by opposing its CON (Certificate of Need) application to modernize and renew its facility in order to serve its existing patients in its own community,” said Carolyn Ferry, general counsel for EMHC.

She also pointed out that Elmhurst Hospital has never opposed a neighboring hospital’s application for a CON, especially one to renovate and replace in part an increasingly obsolete facility into a modern, state-of-the-art hospital.

The existing Elmhurst Hospital, located east of the downtown, opened in 1926 as the first hospital in DuPage County and has had periodic additions since then.

Ferry said Elmhurst Hospital considers neighboring hospitals to be colleagues that share the common goal of community health care and that hospital competition is only beneficial when it serves the patient.

“We would never obstruct true progress and ask that all fair-minded colleagues act in the interest of the public welfare,” she said.

Elmhurst Hospital provided to the Planning Board general letters of support from:

• Delnor Community Hospital
• Northwest Community Healthcare
• Gottieb Memorial Hospital
• Central DuPage Hospital
• Edward Hospital & Health Services
• Loyola University Health System
• Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital
• Resurrection Health Care
• RMI Specialty Hospital
• Rush University Medical Center
• Swedish Covenant Hospital
• Westlake Hospital
• Alexian Brothers Hospital Network

In contrast to this support was the opposition from Adventist executives, with Thomas J. Williams, regional vice president and chief administrative officer for Adventist Midwest Health the first to speak at the hearing.

“The new hospital is unnecessary and reflects an unwise and exorbitant expenditure of health care dollars, which we question as the most economically efficient alternative,” he said.

The Adventist executive said there should be a hearing by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board after the Task Force on Health Planning Reform has completed its work. The Task Force, which was created by legislation last May, will reevaluate current Planning Board methods.

Williams predicted that the Task Force, whose findings are due next spring, will affect the ways in which the Planning Board evaluates new and replacement projects.

“It is therefore our position that projects of this magnitude, especially those with a potential negative impact on existing facilities, be held for consideration until after the rules revision process is complete,” he said.

Another Elmhurst Hospital attorney, Thomas Shields, responded that “Any delay would be inappropriate and actually in violation of state policy.”

Since speakers at the hearing were limited to five minutes of comments, another Adventist spokesman pointed out that the new Elmhurst hospital will cost more than was spent for both the modernization of Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital and the construction of the new Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital.

Christina Ruiz, regional director for Adventist Midwest Health, said the LaGrange patient care center cost $67 million and the Bolingbrook facility cost $152 million.

“Unlike Elmhurst Memorial Hospital’s proposal, however, this new hospital will serve the health care needs of a growing population, not an existing well-served patient base,” she said. “Being responsible stewards of our scarce health care resources is a commitment we should expect from every not for profit, tax-exempt hospital and health system in Illinois. We urge the Planning Board to take those concerns into consideration when deciding whether or not this new hospital is a wise investment for the region.”

A third Adventist spokesman expressed the opposition of Glen Oaks Hospital (located in Glendale Heights).

Elizabeth Lively, regional director, Adventist Midwest Health, said she was concerned about the impact the new Elmhurst Hospital would have on people who received free or government-sponsored medical care.

Other comments by Elmhurst’s Ferry addressed the costs of the new hospital.

“As our representatives have stated during this hearing, we know that our project costs are high. However, other hospitals in DuPage County and elsewhere have spent as much or more in modernization project costs,” she said. “You may not have been aware of the total costs for modernizing a hospital when that modernization is phased and the subject of multiple CON applications, often submitted over a period of years.”

Ferry also responded to the implication that the project was not needed because the new building would not have increased bed capacity. She pointed out that the current building needs to be replaced since Elmhurst Hospital was originally constructed in 1926 and had two additions in the 1940s and one in every decade since then.

State officials who entered comments of support for a new hospital included State Senators Dan Cronin and Carol Pankau and Representatives Bob Biggins and Dennis Reboletti.

County officials supporting Elmhurst’s bid included DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom and DuPage County board members Jeff Redick and Brian Sheehan.

Numerous members of the Elmhurst city government provided supporting comments, including Mayor Thomas Marcucci and City Manager Thomas Borchert. Supporters from other municipalities included Addison Mayor Larry Hartwig, Wood Dale Mayor Kenneth Johnson and Lombard Mayor Bill Mueller.

Further positive testimony came from hospital employees and patients.

All the comments will be considered at a meeting of the Health Facilities Planning Board on Feb. 26-27, 2008, according to Karen M. Hall, assistant to the executive secretary of the Board.

In addition to the state approval, Elmhurst Hospital is seeking approval from the City of Elmhurst. The Zoning and Planning Commission has approved tentative plans that call for a facility about 300,000-square-feet larger than the existing one. At a yet to be scheduled time, the Commission will review final plans.

Approval is also needed from the Development, Planning and Zoning Committee of three aldermen and then the full City Council of 14 aldermen, who will also vote on annexing some of the hospital land, which is in a part of unincorporated DuPage County.

The five-story hospital would be adjacent to the EMHC Center for Health, a four-story, 178,000-square-foot outpatient building which opened in 1999.

Plans for the existing hospital buildings have not been determined yet, but could include:

• A Center for Health—North
• Senior citizen services
• Physician offices
• Immediate care center
• Diagnostic and treatment services.