Centegra’s Huntley Hospital Pretty Much Finished as Permission to Build Finalized

Here’s the headline from the Cook County Reporter article on the Ottawa Appellate Court decision giving Centegra final approval to build its new hospital in Huntley:

Headline in the Cook County Reporter.

Headline in the Cook County Reporter.

In an Illinois replication of the Stalinist approach to economic growth, those wishing to build or expand hospitals must play “Mother, may I?” with the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

This is the Board that was shown to be corrupt during the Rod Blagojevich Administration when Mercy Health System out of Janesville tried to get permission to build a Hospital in Crystal Lake.

The fix was arranged by Blago pal Stuart Levine after a bribe had been arranged.

I feel more than a little responsible for the agency’s existence.

When the bill was on the floor in 1974, I was showing a red vote.

My friend, fellow freshman Bill Kempiners, walked over and made a personal plea that I change my vote.

I did and the bill passed. (More here.)

After the 1992 election, when I returned to the Illinois House, one of the first bills I introduced was a repealer.

Those who made money from the Board exerted sufficient influence to kill my effort to correct my mistake.

The impending takeover of Centegra by Northwestern indicates that Centegra’s business plan has been severely flawed.

As bond analyst Steve Willson pointed out about three weeks ago,

In FY 2011, Centegra had 63,000 acute patient days.

In calendar 2015, they had 48,400, down 23% in four years.

And this is BEFORE they open their new hospital.

Centegra's Huntley Hospital

Centegra’s Huntley Hospital

Expect acute patient days to go up modestly but system-wide occupancy to drop sharply from the current 65% of staffed beds.

Centegra’s margins, cash ratios and debt service coverage — common metrics for assessing hospital creditworthiness — are all weak and about to get weaker when they have to staff the Huntley facility.

Willson looked at the data retrospectively, however.

When the State regulatory board gave Centegra permission to build its new hospital in Huntley, its staff was using projections.

I would assume the state bureaucratic projections are working out no better than Centegra’s business plan prior to the real estate recession, when the building idea was birthed.


Comments

Centegra’s Huntley Hospital Pretty Much Finished as Permission to Build Finalized — 6 Comments

  1. Just as in Motorola Harvard and Woodstock North High School, projections were too high.

  2. Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, should be investigated.

    How do we find out who the key players in this transaction are?

    This is why taxes are so high in McHenry County.

    The tax payers struggle, while the people engaged in these business deals fill their bank accounts.

    Follow the money!

  3. It goes deeper than that, Fighting.

    You would be amazed at how the spider web weaves through pension funds and worldwide catastrophic events.

    We are all guilty of financing the cabal (albeit unknowingly).

  4. Be aware: Never never get elective serum tests or diagnostic imaging at Centegra.

    The markup is worse than Coke atMcDOnald’s.

    If you are on deductible, or a copay basis, you’ll get hosed.

    Shop around for cash pay prices at independent labs and imaging centers

  5. Systemic corruption at all levels of government –
    yet one more reason why people are abandoning Illinois.

    As more people are driven out, there will be less need for hospital capacity.

    This deficit will be filled by the “illegals”.

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