Sherman Argues Against Centegra Plan

will make its case to build a new hospital in Huntley at a hearing tomorrow, but the opposition is already gearing up with its own arguments against the $233 million project.

Sherman Hospital spokeswoman Christine Priester said the Elgin-based hospital will be speaking at the Illinois Health Facilities and Service Review Board’s public hearing Wednesday because Sherman is concerned about capacity.

Centegra plans a 128-bed facility adjacent to its Haligus Road campus.

“Every hospital, including Centegra (hospital in Woodstock) currently has capacity and have capacity for years to come,” Priester said. “This (the Huntley hospital proposal) will significantly weaken all area hospitals.”

“There’s quite a few issues, obviously, the capacity is the big one, all area hospitals have open beds to serve patients,” she said.

Sherman is objecting to Centegra’s plan along with other area hospitals, Priester said. Provena Saint Joseph Hospital, in Elgin, St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates and Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington plan to attend, she said.

Mercy Health System, which has a dueling proposal for its own hospital in Crystal Lake, is also expected to give testimony, she said. A spokesman with Mercy could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.

Centegra officials have said the population increase in Huntley alone, expected to double to 44,435 in the next 20 years, warrants a new hospital. Additionally, the state review board believes the area has a shortage of acute hospital beds

But Priester said area hospitals have open beds to serve patients and there is no need for additional beds now particularly due to changes in health care.

The health care reform act President Barack Obama signed into law last year is aimed at keeping patients out of hospitals and keeping costs down, Priester said.

Most patients don’t need to be in hospitals and can receive care as outpatients through facilities like immediate care centers.

All area hospitals have these types of centers that provide access to health care so building a large hospital doesn’t make sense with a regional hospital, like Sherman, around, she said.

Priester said the proposed Centegra-Huntley hospital would not have services a regional hospital would have, for example, it will not provide open-heart surgery.

“We’ve got some really interesting arguments,” she said.

Sherman just celebrated it’s the first year anniversary of its $325 million hospital on Randall Road. Huntley is within its service area with 75 percent of ambulance runs from the village, Priester said. It is 10 to 15 minutes away from Huntley.

Sherman, itself, faced opposition for its hospital from Provena, which took legal action to stop the construction. She said that situation was different because Sherman was building a replacement hospital, not adding more rooms. Priester said it’s uncertain how far Sherman is willing to go in its opposition to Centegra's plan.