Does Winfield spend $550,000 a year on CDH? Village wants hospital to pay

There's no dispute that the village of Winfield spends money providing services to one of the area's biggest hospitals, Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital.

But the amount - $550,000 a year, according to the village - is hotly contested, with the village forming a special committee and taking other measures to address the hospital's "increasing financial burden" on Winfield taxpayers and extract more money from CDH.

Officials with Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, CDH's parent company, say they're willing to work with village officials to reach an amicable agreement, but they object to the village's tactics.

"We don't want to be a burden on the taxpayers of one of the communities that we serve," said Brian Lemon, president of CDH, a full-service hospital with 380 beds and more than 1,200 doctors.

Winfield this week announced the formation of a committee to recommend "potential solutions that address the massive property tax shift occurring from CDH onto Winfield taxpayers," according to a news release.

The village also fired off a newsletter to residents that discusses how CDH has made significant profits while Winfield has been forced to cut staff and services.

"We can't afford to have the hospital not do its part," Village President Erik Spande wrote in the newsletter. "We are starting a community discussion around the facts of this financial inequality, and are exploring what we can do to address the problem."

Lemon said he's willing to have "a fact-based, transparent dialogue" about what costs the village has that are attributable to the hospital.

But he said he believes the steering committee was made "to legitimize a predetermined conclusion" that the hospital isn't paying its fair share and should be contributing annually to Winfield's budget.

"I'd like to see this whole campaign stop," Lemon said.

Instead, he wants to have a series of discussions with Spande and others from the village about what services the hospital is not paying for.

"Let's get an agreement in place so the hospital is not burdening the taxpayers of the village with those expenses," Lemon said.

Village officials estimate that Winfield spends $550,000 a year on police, road maintenance and other services for the hospital.

"That's more than 10 percent of our general fund," Spande said. "We're a little community of 9,000 people. That's a pretty heavy burden."

But Rob Christie, a senior vice president of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, says he doesn't know how the village came up with the $550,000 estimate.

"They have never itemized that," Christie said. "They say we're the largest user of law enforcement. We would like to identify with them what is the difference between what we are paying for law enforcement and what we should be paying. Let's determine that.

"They also say we're the largest user of roads," Christie added. "OK, let's determine what value that number is. But we have never seen a $550,000 number before."

Spande said village leaders have tried to have "heart-to-heart conversations" with CDH officials before. But he said "they weren't supportive."

And because CDH is a nonprofit hospital, it's not subject to taxes.

"We've got homeowners and small business owners that are subsidizing one of the most successful hospitals in all of Illinois," Spande said.

Still, Spande acknowledges that CDH contributes about $500,000 a year to the village government, fire protection district, and various area charities.

CDH also has made several large donations to the village, including $100,000 to support the "community chest" program that provides grants to not-for-profit groups in the village. The hospital this fiscal year also made a $100,000 contribution to the town's general fund.

"They have on occasion given us some very significant donations, which we're appreciative of," Spande said. "The problem is that it's nowhere near what we give them every single year."

While CDH officials say they're "disappointed" about how village leaders decided to handle the situation, they say they're willing to meet and address their concerns.

"That's what I would like to see happen so we can get on with our lives," Lemon said. "This is not the reason that we're here - to have arguments with the village of Winfield."