Second-district councilperson Barbara Van Auken laid out her case for granting “the courtesy of a deferral” to OSF, Methodist, or any business that has shown a long-term commitment to the city/community. She wanted to make it clear that by doing so, she’s not favoring one project over another. I believe her.
But, I can’t help but think she may have been used by the hospital(s) to affect the outcome anyway, however unintentionally. Take a look at this report from the Journal Star today:
More than likely, the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board will only approve one such acute-care facility for the Peoria area, as it recently did in Springfield with two competing proposals.
There, Select Medical was not chosen because it filed second.
Notice the timing issue — “Select Medical was not chosen because it filed second.” Could it be that the one week deferral provided Methodist with the ability to get in their application for a “certificate of need” first? And, if so, wouldn’t that give them quite an advantage in the competition for a state permit?
I could be all wet. I hope I am. But I’ll be interested to see the dates on the applications.