 Governor's inaction leaves health care projects in limbo
Continued inaction by Gov. Rod Blagojevich is leaving health care
projects worth tens of millions of dollars -- and health care
consumers -- in limbo.
The governor has still not submitted his appointments to fill
vacancies on the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which
oversees health facility construction and modification. He has also
failed to appoint members to a legislative task force created
earlier this year to review the effectiveness of the board.
The five-member board has only three members, one of whom
currently is unable to attend meetings. Because it lacks a quorum,
the board cannot meet. The governor is holding up timely and
up-to-date access to health care and is standing in the way of
investment in health care facilities throughout the state. For
health care consumers, it is critical to have a board that
understands the importance of providing cutting-edge medical
technology to better serve our citizens and to address the need for
expanded health care facilities in high-growth suburban and
downstate areas.
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 The legislative task force was created earlier this year to
further examine necessary changes to the Health Facilities Planning
Act and the state's certificate-of-need program. The 19-member task
force is to be made up of six appointees of the Department of Public
Health, two members of each legislative caucus and five
representatives of the attorney general. Currently, only Senate
Republicans and House Republicans have made their appointments. The
task force is charged with reporting its findings to the General
Assembly by March 1, 2008.
I chaired a similar task force that conducted public hearings
throughout the state in 2006 to examine the efficiency, objectivity
and utility of the board, which had been plagued by allegations of
corruption. The Senate Republican Health Facilities Planning Board
Task Force issued a report Nov. 29, 2006, stating that structural
and operational reforms are necessary for the board's efficient
operation, as is a comprehensive review of the usefulness of the
board and the certificate-of-need process in the governance of the
health care industry.
(Also see Sen. Brady's article posted today in the LDN Perspectives
section: U of I 'Worsty'
could have been avoided with proper investigation)
[Text from file received from
Sen.
Bill Brady] |
