Judge sides with city of Rockford in $30M lawsuit over flooding at Mercyhealth’s Rockton Avenue hospital

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A judge has sided with the city of Rockford in a lawsuit over flooding that caused an estimated $30 million in damage to Mercyhealth’s Javon Bea Hospital-Rockton campus.

Mercyhealth has said those floods, and an ongoing risk of flooding, are the reason it halted services this summer at its main hospital building at 2400 N. Rockton Ave. on the west side. The health care provider is currently searching for a developer who could repurpose the building.

At issue in the lawsuit is whether the city is liable for the damages caused in a flash flood on June 18, 2018. The hospital and its insurer Federal Insurance Co. filed suit in June 2019 alleging that the city’s stormwater sewer system around the hospital was undersized and overburdened, causing the flood. The lawsuit said the city was at fault because in 1962 Rockford installed a 48-inch main storm pipe instead of a 54-inch pipe that was recommended by an engineering firm at the time. It also later installed lateral connections to that pipe as development occurred at and around the hospital.

Last week, Judge Lisa Fabiano issued a judgement that sided with the city, saying the hospital and its insurer did not provide evidence that the flooding wouldn’t have occurred without the city’s actions.

“We appreciate the court’s careful consideration of the facts and are pleased with the outcome,” Mayor Tom McNamara said in a statement Monday. “From the beginning, we believed the city acted responsibly and appropriately. This decision reinforces our strong confidence in the work of our Public Works team.”

Javon Bea, president and CEO of Mercyhealth, said in a statement, “We respect the judge’s decision.”

In 2023, Fabiano had previously dismissed parts of the lawsuit. The city then filed a motion for summary judgement seeking a ruling in its favor on all remaining claims.

Those claims boiled down to whether the city’s actions could be considered a “taking” under the state and U.S. constitution. That clause says that private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation.

“Given these principles, plaintiff cannot establish a taking under either the Illinois or United States Constitutions as a result of the installation of the 48-inch main in 1962 or the subsequent lateral additions to that main because there is no evidence in the record that absent the city’s actions, the flooding would not have occurred,” Fabiano wrote in her memorandum opinion filed Thursday. “Because the record is devoid of any evidence that the flooding was worse than it would have been before the installation of the 48-inch main, plaintiff cannot established a taking.”

The lawsuit states that floodwaters filled the courtyard on June 18, 2018, reaching the level of the basement windows. The pressure broke one of the windows and water poured into the hospital. Repairs took approximately seven months, and normal operations didn’t resume until July 2019, according to the suit.

Additional flooding happened on Aug. 28, 2018, when ponding occurred in the hospital parking lot and courtyard after heavy rain. No water entered the hospital that day. Then, on Aug. 9, 2021, floodwaters again ponded in the parking lot and courtyard, but temporary floodwalls prevented water from entering the building.

The judge’s decision in the case comes about two months after Mercyhealth told state regulators that it intends to permanently close the hospital due to the ongoing risk of flooding.

The letter, dated June 13, also served as Mercyhealth’s notice to state regulators that it was halting services effective June 30.

“Let’s be clear — that closure was a deliberate decision made by Mercyhealth’s leadership and board without a care for who the decision would impact,” McNamara wrote on Facebook.

Mercyhealth said it will continue to maintain clinical and administrative services on the campus, and it is considering possible future uses such as a home for social service agencies or a senior living facility.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas