Blue Island officials are moving quickly to give the new owners of St. Francis Hospital financial help to take it over and retool it as a regional, for-profit medical center.
The City Council voted unanimously this week to give New York-based Falcon Investors tax breaks to redevelop the downtown hospital.
Falcon plans to take over the hospital from SSM Health Care, which announced last month it would close the facility because of insurmountable financial losses due to treating uninsured and underinsured patients.
The tax breaks would flow from a tax increment financing district set up around the hospital, 12935 Gregory St. Under the special taxing district, property taxes that would otherwise go to local school districts and other taxing bodies would be pumped into hospital improvements for as long as 23 years.
“Most of that land is tax-free now,” said Mayor Donald Peloquin, who added that “we still have a long way to go” with the project.
The deal still needs Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approval.
