Late yesterday evening, after addressing an amendatory veto by Illinois Governor Quinn, the House and Senate passed a revised Senate Bill 1905 (SB 1905) and submitted it to the Governor for signature. As he had indicated, he signed SB 1905 into law. The amended Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act (“Act”) varies in significant ways from the original Act. A highlight of these differences is outlined below.

The Act now creates a Center for Comprehensive Health Planning that will work with the Health Facilities and Services Review Board  (“Board”) to develop a long-range comprehensive health plan, which will guide the development of clinical services, facilities and workforce to meet the health and mental health care needs of the residents of the State.

The definition of “health care facilities,” which are governed by the Act, is expanded to include an institution, place, building or room used for the provision of a health care category of service as defined by the Board, including, but not limited to, cardiac catheterization and open heart surgery, and an institution, place building or room used for provision of major medical equipment used in the direct clinical diagnosis or treatment of patients, and whose project cost is in excess of the capital expenditure minimum.

Projects are no longer interdependent simply because they are undertaken by means of a single construction contract or financed through the issuance of a single debt instrument.

The capital expenditure minimum was increased to $11.5 million for hospital applicants, $6.5 million for skilled and intermediate care long-term care facilities and $3 million for all other applicants.

The position of Executive Secretary, previously appointed by the Governor, is abolished. The Board itself is expanded from five members to nine, and this shall occur on or before March 2010. Until such time the current Board may continue to act, and current Board members may be appointed to the new, nine-member Board.

Routine, post permit reports shall be limited to annual progress reports and the final completion and cost report. Projects may deviate from the costs, fees and expenses provided in their project cost information for the project’s cost components, provided that the final total project cost does not exceed the approved permit amount.

Detailed safety net impact statements are required for substantive projects and projects to discontinue a category of service. Substantive projects are limited to no more than projects to: construct a new or replacement facility and/or proposing a new service or discontinuation of a category of service; or projects proposing a change in the bed capacity of a health care facility by an increase in the total number of beds, by a redistribution of beds among various categories of service, or by a relocation of beds from one physical facility or site to another, by more than 20 beds or 10 percent of total bed capacity, as defined by the State Board, whichever is less, over a two year period.

The Letter of Intent requirement was eliminated, and thus applicants no longer need to file a Letter of Intent 60 days prior to filing an application.

Various other changes were made to the Act, and the above is only a recitation of some of the key changes that may affect health care facilities in their health facilities planning and operations.

For further information, please contact your regular Hinshaw attorney.   

This alert has been prepared by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. It is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship.