Vision or Mistake: Two-Hour Hearing on New Hospital

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[While some bitterness remains over the closing of the Skilled Care Unit at Pinckneyville Community Hospital, the majority of those who spoke out against building a new hospital at the corner of White Walnut and Route 154, cited financial concerns about the project.

There were 15 speakers at the public hearing held Thursday in the Junior High gymnasium. Six opposed the project and nine spoke in favor of it.

Those opposed were: George Ranta, Ann Denman, Eric Lambert, Helen Schafer, Bill Webber and Shirley Welsch, all local residents.

Those in favor were Hospital Board President John Shotton, board member Dr. Bill Roe, PCH Administrator Tom Hudgins, Ed Parkhurst, Randy Reagan, Brent Hughes, Glen Meyers, Tim King and Irl Engelhardt.

Testimony alternated between pro-construction and anti-construction.

Hudgins read a statement from Shotton into the record. Shotton was unable to attend the meeting. Likewise, Flossine Schrader read a statement on behalf of former PCH Administrator George Ranta, who did not attend the meeting.

Ranta favors renovating the current hospital and expanding at the current site in the same manner as Sparta and Marshall Browning Hospitals have done recently.

Roe said the board has spent the last eight years debating whether or not to build a new hospital. After commissioning several studies by expert consultants, the board determined that new construction was the better option.

"We are committed to moving forward without a increasing local taxes," Roe said. "Local tax revenue accounts for about one percent the hospital's operating revenue."

The main objection is that the community cannot afford to repay a $40 million loan. Many mentioned how few patients stay in the hospital on a regular basis.

Webber questioned the purchase of the land for the proposed new hospital before the Certificate of Need was approved.

Welsch pointed out that while newer hospitals may attract additional patients, people don't select a hospital in the same way they choose a hotel.

"When you're sick, you go where your doctor sends you," Welsch said. "There are four hospitals within 20 minutes of Pinckneyville."

She also mentioned the financial difficulties of the two-year-old Galena hospital.

Those in favor cited the need for newer facilities, jobs and the timing which is good for both construction costs and loan interest rates.

They also pointed out that better than 85 percent of the hospital's revenue is derived from outpatient services.

Reagan, who is a partner with McGladrey Pullen- the firm that conducted the examine forecast, said that the forecast used a very conservative approach and found no doubt that the hospital could afford to repay the loan with services remaining at the current level, provided one new physician was added by 2012.

The current calculation for Medicare reimbursement for critical access hospitals shows that Medicare would pay 53 percent of the cost of the new hospital.

PCH hopes to build a $33.7 million facility. The total cost of the project- $46,624,405 includes construction, finishing costs, the net value of equpiment to be moved, contingency fees for cost overruns and preparation.

Testimony ended with local businessman and farmer Irl Engelhardt saluting the courage of board members in moving forward with the project. He encouraged the community to move forward with the project, providing jobs during the construction phase and ensuring future health care jobs in the area.

"Businesses that don't reinvest go out of business," Engelhardt said. "It has been a long time since Pinckneyville has invested in their hospital. There have been a lot of major changes in that time."

The public has until March 31 to submit written comments on the hospital's certificate of need application or Project 09-068. The Health Facilities Planning Board plans to consider the application at the April 20-21 meeting at Harold Washington College in Chicago.

Comments may be submitted via mail to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 525 West Jefferson Street (2nd Floor), Springfield, IL 62761-0001 or by fax to (217)785-4111.

The hospital is also working toward a federal loan guarantee through the Housing and Urban Development 242 program.