Rockford mayor wants residents to speak out against Mercyhealth changes. Here's why

ROCKFORD — Mayor Tom McNamara is calling on area residents to speak out against a planned reduction in services at the Javon Bea Hospital Rockton Avenue campus.

The day before Thanksgiving, Mercyhealth announced that it is moving inpatient care services and surgeries from its Rockton Avenue campus to its Riverside Boulevard campus, closing 70 inpatient surgical beds. The plan is to move outpatient care and surgeries to the Rockton Avenue campus.

McNamara said it is the latest example of a "systematic reduction in services" on the west side of Rockford that has been implemented since the opening of Mercyhealth's Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside.

Previously: Mercyhealth shifts inpatient care to Rockford east side, outpatient to west side

"There will be a hearing for what I believe is the absolute wrong move at the absolute worst time," McNamara said.

McNamara is encouraging public opposition to the changes.

Because of the pandemic, a virtual public hearing online is scheduled at 1 p.m. Jan. 26 on Mercyhealth's request to discontinue inpatient services before the Illinois Health Facilities & Review Board. A decision could be made at the board's March 15 meeting.

McNamara said that changes in state law over the years have made it difficult to prevent the closure of needed hospital services, but he is hopeful that enough public opposition can have an influence.

Trauma services were eliminated on the Rockton Avenue campus at the start of the pandemic in 2020. Last month, the emergency room was converted into a "standby" facility staffed by nurses with a physician on call.

A 20-bed inpatient mental health unit was also closed on the Rockton Avenue campus in 2020.

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Mercyhealth CEO Javon Bea in a news release previously said moving inpatient services to the eastside of the city is part of an effort to improve patient care. He pointed out a variety of services remain available on the Rockton Avenue campus including outpatient surgeries, cancer care, family medicine, cardiology, gastroenterology and more.

"Realigning services across our one hospital license, located between two campuses allows us to provide a more robust outpatient facility at Rockton and expand our inpatient campus at Riverside," Bea said in the release. "We will still be able to care for the same number of people, and no jobs will be lost as a result of these changes, which will allow us to better utilize our staff to best meet our patients’ needs."

Jeff Kolkey: jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford mayor wants residents to oppose Mercyhealth service changes