A State Review board comes to Ottawa this week to review OSF Health’s plans for future healthcare in Ottawa and Peru. A hearing by the Illinois’s Health Facilities and Services Review Board occurs at 4pm Tuesday inside Central Intermediate School.
Over the past few months, OSF and a home grown Ottawa group opposed to OSF’s plans haven’t found much common ground. Mayor Robert Hasty speaking last week on his Facebook, said he and community members met with OSF May 20. Hasty said he and other community stakeholders were frustrated by OSF’s lack of communication – among the OSF staff and externally with the public.
Hasty reported OSF officials reaffirmed their intent to build a new healthcare facility in Ottawa and discontinue with the current, larger campus. OB and ICU services will go to Peru to centralizer services. Hasty added OSF wasn’t ready to commit to their original 12-bed model or a 20-bed “enhanced plan” for the new Ottawa hospital, but healthcare reps did say they don’t expect the plan to grow beyond the 20-bed option. The city’s police and Fire Chiefs have expressed concern about potential emergency service diversions from Ottawa to Peru. Ultimately, the State Board will vote to approve or deny OSF’s plans in Ottawa and Peru.
