A partnership whose application to buy two nursing homes has been in limbo for the last month has petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to force an end to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s moratorium on permits for medical facilities.
Blagojevich ordered a halt to all meetings and actions of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board on July 7 following disclosure of a federal investigation and extortion allegations linked to the nine-member board.
A spokeswoman for the governor said Wednesday that he wants to keep the moratorium in place while options are reviewed.
For health-care companies, the governor’s action has meant that plans for hospital and clinic projects, some costing many millions of dollars, face uncertainty and delay statewide.
Prism Healthcare Group, the nursing home partnership, was set to buy nursing homes in Sterling and Morris, and needs a type of board approval that amounts to a technicality, said Joseph J. Cecala Jr., the lawyer who filed the petition.
Prism’s financing commitment expires Saturday, Cecala said, and the investors stand to lose a large amount of money if the $15 million deal cannot be closed.
Cecala said he has heard from seven others who have similar change-of-ownership requests stalled by the moratorium.
“The governor does not have the power to suspend state statutes,” Cecala said. “It is a severe crisis.”
The governor has said before that he was intrigued by legislation to eliminate the board, but that proposal did not pass either chamber.
He also has expressed support for the bill on his desk that would replace the current nine-member board with a smaller board.
“While we’re reviewing the legislation to reconstitute the board and reviewing candidates, the governor is also looking at ideas that have been suggested to eliminate the board,” said spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson.
“This is a very serious and weighty policy issue and requires careful review.”
