Quincy, Ill. (KHQA) — After their initial suit over the approval of an application by Quincy Medical Group to build a $61 million hospital was rejected, Blessing Health System appealed the decision and won the appeal.
Blessing filed suit in 2022 after the Review Board approved a 27-bed hospital for QMG at the Quincy Town Center.
That initial suit requested a review of the Review Board’s decision to approve a QMG hospital and was rejected in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
Blessing’s appeal was denied by the Sangamon County court, stating their summonses for the hearing were not issued within 35 days of the Review Board’s decision made in early May of 2022.
That led to Blessing taking it the Illinois 4th Circuit Court of Appeals as they stated a service date was never established, which led to the 35-day period never beginning.
Blessing stated their summonses were issued within that time period–in which the Appeals Court agreed.
The case has been sent back to Sangamon County court where they will now consider the issues Blessing raised in their suit.
Issues in the suit include Blessing’s contention that the Review Board didn’t uphold state law with its decision to approve QMG’s application–by not considering regional health care planning.
Blessing states the decision to approve QMG’s application will lead to the loss of Federal “Sole Community Hospital” status due to the close proximity of QMG’s hospital to Blessing.
The Federal “Sole Community Hospital” status allows Blessing to be financially subsidized for Medicare, Medicaid and charity care–which blessing says makes up 75% of their patients.
In a statement from Quincy Medical Group, they say:
“We stand firm in our commitment to our community, our belief in the QMG Hospital project, and its vital role in providing affordable healthcare, choice, and competition for everyone in the region. We are eager for the legal process to conclude, so we can begin providing this choice that our community has supported since we first proposed the project.
We would also like to acknowledge the incredible support we’ve received from the community, as well as the unwavering dedication of our physicians. We will stay the course, and, together, we will make QMG Hospital a reality.”
Blessing issued a statement saying:
“Blessing respects the court’s decision and will not comment further regarding ongoing litigation.”
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