Hospital mission threatened by cuts

In 1902, The Sisters of the Sacred Heart arrived in Elgin with a clear mission: to provide compassionate health care for the most vulnerable citizens - the poor and the uneducated. That small hospital has evolved into Presence St. Joseph Hospital, an area leader in advanced health care.

Despite amazing progress, the very core of our mission is now threatened. State lawmakers are considering drastic cuts to Medicaid funding that would be devastating to our hospital; and would be especially damaging to our Behavioral Health Services, in which more than 20 percent of patients are covered by Medicaid.

Behavioral Health services are crucial to our region. Mental health issues rose to the top of concerns in the recent 2014 Kane County Community Health Needs Assessment. The communitywide survey found nearly 85 percent of respondents believe mental health is a major problem in the Fox River Valley Region.

If services to manage chronic mental health conditions are reduced, these patients will suffer tremendous harm. Many will end up in crowded, expensive emergency rooms or much worse - the prison system. It doesn't make sense to enact measures that will only increase expenses over the long term.

The Illinois Senate and House of Representatives passed a major Medicaid package, Senate Bill 788, which would fend off the majority of the $1.5 billion program cuts proposed for the FY2016 budget. We encourage state lawmakers to include key Medicaid provisions of Senate Bill 788 in the final budget.

Help us let our governor know that slashing Medicaid will result in an increasingly unhealthy population, endangering the future of our state. Visit the Illinois Hospital Association's website at ihatoday.org to make your voice heard in support of Senate Bill 788 to preserve Medicaid.

Michael L. Brown

Batavia

President CEO

Presence St. Joseph Hospital - Elgin