Illinois State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and Illinois State Representative Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) released the following statements in response to the most recent reported developments regarding St. Margaret’s Health.
Statement from Sen. Rezin:
“Rep. Yednock and I have provided state assistance to ensure that residents would continue to have access to local and quality healthcare services. This includes passing legislation to allow SMH to operate their Peru and Spring Valley hospitals under one license to provide cost savings and to designate St. Margaret’s as the as the first rural emergency hospital in the nation. Additionally, we provided assistance to get their Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements released earlier than normal to help offset their growing financial deficit.
“All local lawmakers and officials understand the potential devastation the end of healthcare service within the Illinois Valley region would create and we continue to work on solutions that keep those services available. In that effort, Rep. Yednock and I have met with the Governor’s Administration to discuss expediting the application process for the transfer of ownership of the Peru hospital and other locations from SMH to OSF HealthCare once they have completed their due diligence and formally submit their application. The Administration has been receptive to this request as they too understand the need to continue to provide great, local and quality healthcare for all Illinois residents.”
Statement from Rep. Yednock:
“The General Assembly is working on a package to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers that I hope will help address some of the challenges with rural health care. We plan to continue working on recruitment and retention of all health care workers. I am asking specifically for funds to keep health care accessible in our region. I cannot express enough how hard we are working to keep a full-service hospital in the area.”