URBANA – Several community members are voicing opposition to OSF Healthcare’s plan to reduce some services and expand behavioral health options at the Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board held a public hearing Thursday as part of a required process to consider OSF’s proposal. An overwhelming majority said they were upset over the potential loss of services.
The health system intends to restructure its Danville and Urbana locations as one hospital with two campuses, with some specialties relocating to Bloomington or Danville.
Open-heart surgery services would move to Bloomington, and general surgery, orthopedics and gastrointestinal services would shift to the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville.
The Urbana campus would focus on mental and behavioral health services while maintaining an emergency department and inpatient beds along with lab work, diagnostic imaging and other clinic offerings.
Several attendees said they were worried about specialty services that could be eliminated.
“My main concern is that OSF truly could have expanded their behavioral health unit and made the changes that they would like to do in regards to mental health care, while still leaving the rest of the hospital functioning as it was,” said local surgeon Ravi Hasanadka.
Hasanadka said dropping services like surgical cardiology, inpatient rehab and outpatient therapy would mean removing an alternative healthcare option for those who need it.
The changes will require approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.
John Kniery, an administrator with the board, said several components would go into the decision.
“Healthcare is not black and white,” said Kniery. “There is no one size fits all. So it does take the staff report from the board, the need analysis for the project, the background of the applicant, the community input. It takes everyone.”
Some attendees expressed appreciation for OSF, saying that being treated there “feels like home” for them. They expressed excitement about the prospect of expanding behavioral health treatment options.
But one former OSF registered nurse, Cynthia Lammert, said she does not trust the organization will follow through.
“I’ve worked a lot of places, but they did at least try to live out their vision and their mission,” she said. “And that’s the one thing that is so disappointing. I think they’re still trying to live it out. I just have lost trust that they will be in it for the long haul, and that, down the road, whether [the] Danville or Urbana [facilities] will still be in existence.”
According to a state filing, OSF reported a total of $361 million in losses at its Urbana location since it purchased the facility.
The next Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board meeting will be held Sept. 25 in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook.
OSF said if the plan is approved, the hospital system will have the changes implemented next year.