Crystal Lake, Ill.-based Centegra Health System has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board claiming the board improperly approved Janesville, Wis.-based Mercyhealth's $79.5 million hospital plan in Crystal Lake, according to the Northwest Herald.
The lawsuit asks a judge to overturn the board's decision to allow Mercyhealth, Centegra's rival, to build a 13-bed hospital in Crystal Lake.
Centegra Health claims the board members failed to follow their own rules and abused judgment then they granted Mercyhealth a permit to build the hospital. In particular, Centegra argues the board failed to follow the board's requirement that newly built hospitals have 100 beds. Centegra further alleges that the board members neglected to consider how the 13-bed hospital would impact operations at other facilities in the area.
Centegra Health System spokeswoman Michelle Green told the Northwest Herald "Centegra Health System's position has not changed in the nearly 15 years since Mercy first tried to build a facility in Crystal Lake. There is no need for the service Mercy proposes, and Crystal Lake is not the right location for a new hospital, no matter its size."
Mercyhealth officials stand by their plan to build the hospital and argue the need for services is even greater after Centegra announced it would end intensive care and medical-surgical services at its hospital in Woodstock, Ill., which is about 10 miles away from Crystal Lake.
The next court date is set for Aug. 25