Vote on 2 proposed Lake Co. hospitals still months away

Lake County residents will likely have to wait four more months to learn the fate of two hospitals proposed for Lindenhurst and Round Lake.

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which determines the need for and oversees construction of new hospitals and expansion projects, Tuesday deferred any decision on both proposals for a month until the board's January meeting. The board will likely defer both plans again at each monthly board meeting until April, officials said.

Representatives of Vista Health and rival Advocate Health Care were pleased with the deferrals, as neither was ready for a decision Tuesday on their competing proposals.

New rules governing the way the need for patient beds is calculated will be published Dec. 14. Those rules must still go through a state approval process before they become law.

"We are anticipating that these rules will be in effect sometime in March," said Jeffrey Mark, executive secretary of the facilities planning board.

It is unclear how those rules will affect either project.

Vista proposes to build a 140-bed, $100 million hospital in Lindenhurst. Advocate's plan calls for a 144-bed, $251 million hospital in Round Lake.

The planning board wanted to give both hospitals time to digest the new rules and adjust their projects accordingly.