Plainfield Hospital foes protect own turf

I read with disbelief the May 14 letter to the editor from the CEOs of Adventist Bolingbrook, Provena St. Joe's, and Rush Copley, criticizing Edward Hospital CEO Pam Davis for fighting to clean up the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

Instead of applauding Ms. Davis for her efforts in cleaning up Illinois politics, they criticize her. We see their continued opposition to the Plainfield Hospital for what it is - the protection of their hospitals.

Obviously, these men would rather see people wait in their facility then receive the care they need. In fact, these CEOs should be more concerned about the quality of care at their facilities rather than opposing a Plainfield Hospital.

The simple fact of the matter is that Plainfield still needs a hospital, and our residents support, want and need a hospital. In fact, we have 30,000 letters of support from residents to prove it.

We have just a few questions for the other hospitals and their CEOs:

• Why are you afraid of competition?

• Why do you hide behind outdated planning rules?

• Why is Rush Copley opposing a Plainfield hospital when Plainfield isn't even listed in its primary service area?

Our residents demand and deserve more than just the "adequate" health care that Mr. Brickman, Mr. Finn, and Mr. Mace reference, and they should not be able to dictate the choices of Plainfield residents. Let Plainfield and its residents deal with bringing quality health care to our community without the interference of other hospitals and their CEOs.

Donald Bennett

Plainfield village administrator