City of Ottawa, OSF Healthcare agree to continue hospital talks

Talks between the city of Ottawa and OSF Healthcare will continue, the pair said in a joint statement Wednesday regarding OSF’s request to have deferred for six months its application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.

The certificate of need application seeks approval from the state board to construct a new $120 million hospital in Ottawa across Route 6 from the current OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center, and then once that construction is complete, to have the old hospital razed.

However, although Ottawa, several adjoining communities and multiple organizations are in favor of the new building, they all have balked at the plan because it includes moving several key services from Ottawa to the newly reopened facility in Peru.

[ From the archives: ‘It’s been a long 435 days,’ officials excited to reopen Peru hospital ]

The deferral will give the city and OSF the opportunity to discuss the regional model of care and its details at length.

“We appreciate the response from OSF to pause, listen to feedback and have a dialogue with the city,” Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty said in the release. “All signs point to a continued partnership where both parties are committed to ensuring a shared understanding of local and national health trends and what it takes to be financially sustainable while providing the absolute best in patient care.”

The plan as submitted to the review board would have moved the main obstetric care services to Peru and reduced the number of medical/surgical beds in Ottawa from 54 to 12. That includes five intensive care beds and all 14 obstetric delivery beds.

The new facility would contain a 26-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, plus those 12 medical/surgical beds.

Meanwhile, the Peru facility was expected to increase to 45 medical/surgical beds, eight ICU rooms, 11 obstetric rooms and a birthing center, plus surgery and procedure rooms, an emergency department, diagnostic care and outpatient care services.

We appreciate the response from OSF to pause, listen to feedback and have a dialogue with the city.”

—  Robb Hasty, Ottawa mayor

The backlash was immediate.

Not only did the city councils of Ottawa and Marseilles, the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce and the La Salle County Board all voice their displeasure, the Community for Healthcare in Ottawa organization on June 10 filed a complaint with the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The review board had representatives on hand at a public meeting at Central Intermediate School on June 13, at which the standing-room-only crowd added its dissent and booed any speaker in support of the OSF plan.

Hearing that lack of support, OSF asked that the review board’s decision originally scheduled for Aug. 8 be delayed one month. It has since offered to add eight beds – four of them intermediate care beds – and a second procedure room, reportedly at an increased cost of $14 million.

That has not caused the opposition to waver.

“This deferral period is an opportunity for us to deepen our collaboration and understanding with the city of Ottawa on the regional health care delivery model,” OSF HealthCare CEO of the Western Region August Querciagrossa said in the release. “We are dedicated to delivering health care solutions that meet the needs of all the communities in Bureau, Putnam and La Salle counties.

“Our goal remains steadfast – to serve with the greatest care and love while providing exceptional care through a model that offers long-term viability.”

Querciagrossa reiterated that OSF Healthcare’s vision is to continue specialized services in Ottawa and throughout the region along the Interstate 80 corridor, with each facility – it also operates hospitals in Mendota and Princeton – “dedicated to delivering exceptional care.”

“This will allow us to attract and retain top talent, ensuring our patients receive care from experts in fully staffed, well-equipped facilities,” he said. “This strategy will not only elevate the quality of care but also support the long-term sustainability of our health care system in Ottawa and beyond.”