Mercyhealth: The only thing that could close the Rockton Avenue campus is a flood

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Mercyhealth says that the looming threat of flooding at its Rockton Avenue hospital added to its decision to move inpatient services to the city’s east side.

The health care system said that in part of a statement sent to the Rock River Current in response to Mayor Tom McNamara’s push to prevent the hospital from moving surgical beds and emergency care to the Riverside Boulevard campus.

McNamara has called a public hearing with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in hopes feedback will sway the board to prevent Mercy from discontinuing the 70 medical and surgical bed service at Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Rockton on the city’s west side.

He said the city has already lined up more than 20 speakers for the hearing, and it’s seeking more support.

“There has been a systematic reduction of services to the residents of the west side,” McNamara said to reporters last week at City Hall.

In the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases that has depleted the availability of hospital beds, particularly intensive care unit beds, he called it “an absolute wrong move at the absolute worst time.”

Related: How McNamara will select new Civilian Oversight Board members

‘The only thing that could close it is a flood’

Mercyhealth says that the consolidation of inpatient services to Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside will provide more efficient and improved patient care. In announcing its decision in November, it said the Rockton Avenue campus averages just two inpatients per day.

It said it would still be able to care for the same total number of patients and no jobs would be lost.

“In addition to improving efficiency, the restructuring of patient care between the two campuses was also based on the knowledge that the Mercyhealth-Rockton campus is at constant risk of severe flooding, and that is a looming threat to safe inpatient care,” the hospital said in the statement.

Mercyhealth said it has invested more than $100.65 million in flood damage and mitigation efforts.

“Mercyhealth has no intention to close the Mercyhealth-Rockton campus,” the statement reads. “The only thing that could close it is a flood.”

Mercy previously laid blame for the flooding on the city, and in June 2019 it filed a lawsuit through its insurance company that says the city’s negligence on storm sewer management led to $30 million in damages from a June 2018 flood.

“As a direct and proximate result of one or more of the defendant’s acts or omissions of negligence, water backed up on the medical campus causing several feet of water to accumulate in a courtyard which caused a glass window to shatter and flood the hospital resulting in significant and catastrophic damage,” according to the initial court complaint.

The lawsuit is still pending with its next status hearing scheduled for April.

Mercy previously asked the city to install a box culvert to alleviate flooding issues.

Moving emergency care

The consolidation also means the Rockton campus will transition to a standby emergency department, which will be staffed by nurses with a physician on call. Patients requiring emergency care will be treated at the Riverside campus.

“The rationale for this transition was based on data indicating that the majority of patients being treated did not truly need emergency care,” Mercyhealth said in the statement to the Rock River Current. “The remaining three trauma centers in Rockford can adequately provide emergency services to Rockford and surrounding communities.”

Public hearing

When: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26

Where: The meeting will be held virtually through the Health Facilities and Services Review Board website

How to watch: Visit here

How to comment: Speakers at the public hearing will be limited to two minutes. To submit comments in writing, email DPH.HFSRB.PublicHearings@Illinois.gov. The city is also helping people register to speak. You can email communications@rockfordil.gov to find out more info on commenting during the hearing.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.