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Health facilities task force hosts second hearing The
Senate Republican Health Facilities Planning Board Task Force is
meeting in communities across the state this summer and fall to take
a closer look at the politically charged and increasingly litigious
process that is all too common in determining health facility
construction and modification.
I am chairman of the task force, which met Aug. 22 in
Springfield. At this second hearing, we continued our work of
reviewing the rules that govern the planning board.
Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-Crystal Lake, and I led the discussion,
which centered on recommendations from individuals representing
different aspects of the health care industry on how to improve the
process by which the board should carry out its mission to assist
hospitals and health care facilities seeking approval for new
buildings, expansions and other significant capital expenditures.
We hope these recommendations will help result in a comprehensive
plan for Illinois that will enable the board to better carry out its
mission to improve the quality of health care facilities, services
and equipment, while addressing the issues of community need,
accessibility and financing. The Health Facilities Planning Board's
decisions affect hundreds of millions of dollars in capital
investments, as well as thousands of patients' lives.
A third hearing is tentatively scheduled for the last week of
September.
Ethanol plant would boost jobs, agriculture
I attended a meeting this week with local leaders and
representatives of several companies involved in plans to build a
100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant near San Jose.
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 At the meeting, I welcomed the companies and thanked them for
investing in Illinois, as this plant would be a major impact for the
state and local economies in terms of jobs and the boost in crop
prices. There is also the added incentive of reducing our dependence
on foreign oil!
Agriculture is our state's No. 1 industry, and its successes and
failures have a ripple effect on the entire economy -- whether it is
the farmer harvesting crops or raising livestock, companies that
produce value-added products, businesses that build farm machinery,
or commodities traders in Chicago.
Communities can apply for technology access grants
Communities in the 44th Senate District have the opportunity to
apply for a state program that helps them provide computer-related
instruction to more of their citizens.
Applications for the fiscal 2007 Bridging the Digital Divide
Program are currently available and must be returned by Sept. 12 to
the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The program provides funding to help communities establish and
expand Community Technology Centers and support technology access
programs. This program provides more people with access to the kind
of computer skills they need to compete in our increasingly
technological world.
More information about the Bridging the Digital Divide Program is
available at
www.commerce.state.il.us/bus/gri/digital_divide.htm or by
contacting John Barr at 312-814-2259.
[Column from
Sen. Bill Brady] |
