County needs health options

By: Editorial Board

Posted: 7/7/05

After a lengthy application process, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board denied Champaign-based Carle Foundation Hospital's petition to build a surgicenter in Coles County on the basis that there is no sufficient need for the facility. The board voted 0-4 on June 24 to deny Carle Hospital's certificate of need, despite results of surveys of local residents and health care decision makers showing that many residents would like to have a second local health care option.

"Eighty percent of the health care decision makers in Coles County believe residents should have a choice of inpatient and outpatient hospital services available locally, according to a survey conducted for Carle Foundation Hospital," reads a press release received from Public Relations Director Gretchen Robbins.

"It is difficult to dismiss this huge percentage of Coles County citizens who say they should have a choice in their health care options, plus the tremendous savings that are possible for everyone," Cathy Emanuel, Carle Foundation Hospital's vice president for business development, said in the release.

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, already established in Mattoon with its own freestanding surgical center, declined the invitation to partner with Carle on the project, saying in a statement that "it duplicates the services provided at the Health Center."

But the Carle Clinic Association says that more than 26 percent of Mattoon-Charleston resisdents leave the area for health care, with around 5,000 choosing to be hospitalized outside of Coles County. If Sarah Bush offered all necessary services to Coles County residents, why are so many residents leaving the county to be cared for elsewhere?

Robbins believes there is a need for the facility in Mattoon as a means of supporting their patients already visiting physicians at the branch clinic, which was opened in 1990 "to serve the many patients living in the Coles County area."

"Many of these patients are Health Alliance Medical Plan members, who choose Carle for their care," Robbins said. "It's always been important to us to bring services closer to home for the people we serve."

Robbins stated that Carle has worked successfully with rural hospitals in other areas to enhance patient care. "So, ideally, we would like for SBLHC to join us and local independent physicians in making this facility a reality. In doing so, SBLHC could eventually come out ahead financially."
What matters most, however, would be the ability for Coles County residents to choose where they want to go for their health care needs.

"Many people, about 4500, simply are choosing to not have their procedures at SBLHC, so there will always be capacity at the local hospital," Robbins said. "People are making their choices with their feet and leaving the area. The proposed surgery center is the best opportunity to keep business in Coles County."

By having this surgicenter available in Coles County, residents could feel more secure that they are receiving the best treatment possible, since they can have more than one local option to choose from.