There may be law suits of merit in the coming years regarding the closing of Silver Cross Hospital. However it appears that it would not be productive to appeal the decision through the circuit court. The reason is because the Health Facility Planning Board has total discretion in regards to their decisions. There is nothing to appeal. The Board does not have to evaluate nor develop their own independent data. In fact opposition is not even allowed to speak at the Planning Board hearing. This goes against all procedures of jurisprudence.
Write your state legislator demanding that rules and procedures be changed in regards to Replacement Hospitals. The precedent has been set. There is nothing from stopping a non-profit hospital with a campus adequate for health care services to leave a poor community in favor for a more affluent community.
