|
Last June Gov. George
Ryan and the Department of Human Services announced a decision to
close the 125-year-old facility completely, after citing issues of
abuse and neglect and concern for the safety of its residents.
On July 1, Logan
County Circuit Judge Donald Behle ruled that the Illinois Health
Facilities Planning Board must issue a permit before the Lincoln
facility could be closed. By law the board must hold a public
hearing before making a decision, if such a hearing is requested.
[Photo by Bob Frank]
[LDC resident and father beneath the pressured
gaze of Gov. George Ryan (note face in background)]
Members of the Health Facilities
Planning Board do not attend the public hearings, but a hearing
officer and a court reporter will be present, according to Jena
Welliever, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public
Health.
A transcript of the testimony given at
the hearing as well as written testimony will be compiled and
included in a report that will go to all board members, she said.
The board, which includes 15 members
from both the Chicago area and downstate, is tentatively scheduled
to meet on Aug. 15. The board is an independent group appointed by
the governor, and the Department of Public Health provides its
staff.
Along with the transcript of the
testimony, the board will also receive a report from the Department
of Public Health, a copy of all written material received by DPH up
to 20 days before the board meeting, and a copy of the application
for the permit and any supplemental information the applicant has
provided.
The Department of Public Health’s
report is a written comparison of the application and public hearing
material with the review criteria from the Illinois Administrative
Code, which the board uses in its evaluation of projects.
In the case of a discontinuation
hearing, such as the hearing to close LDC, the DPH’s evaluation is
based upon five criteria, according to Mike Copelin, supervisor of
project review.
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
These criteria are, first, that the
reasons for the discontinuation are valid; second, that the
discontinuation will not adversely affect services needed by the
planning area; and third, that the discontinuation project will not
have an adverse effect on the health delivery system by creating
demand for services that cannot be met by existing area facilities.
Fourth, the discontinuation project
must be in the public interest and not cause area residents
unnecessary hardship by limiting access to needed services. It must
consider the effect of the proposed discontinuation on the ability
of low-income people, racial and ethnic minorities, women,
handicapped people, the elderly and other under-served groups to
obtain needed health care.
Fifth, the applicant must state the use
to which the physical plant and equipment will be put once
discontinuation takes place.
The board will announce its decision
after its Aug. 15 meeting, unless the applicant, the Department of
Human Services, asks to defer the decision, Copelin said.
According to the statute that created
the planning board, its function is to reverse trends of increasing
health care costs and also guarantee access to quality health care
to the general public.
The statute also says all interested
people attending a public hearing shall be given "reasonable
opportunity to present their views or arguments in writing or
verbally."
Judge Behle also
issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the state from
moving any residents who did not want to leave LDC. However,
state-appointed representatives had already approved the movement of
51 residents who are wards of the state. They were allowed to be
transferred from the Lincoln facility after being notified of the
court order and given a chance to reconsider their decisions, Behle
said.
According to Kathleen
Muniz, assistant associate director of the Office of Developmental
Disabilities, 40 of those residents have already been moved from LDC
and 10 more are scheduled to leave today.
"When all is said and
done, we will have moved 50 people," she said. Because of the
temporary restraining order, the other 190 residents will stay at
the Lincoln facility at least until the IHFPB decides whether it
should be closed, she said.
All but one of the 50
residents went to other state-operated facilities. One was placed in
a community home. The rest went to facilities in Jacksonville,
Tinley Park, Park Forest, Dwight, Kankakee and Centralia, according
to Muniz.
She said there are no plans to lay
off any more LDC staff members at this time.
[Joan
Crabb]
|
