By Erika Slife : Chicago Tribune reporter
Cook County's controversial plan to convert Oak Forest Hospital into an outpatient clinic failed to win state approval today by one vote.
Afterward, people opposed to the idea erupted in cheers and jeered the state hospital siting board members who voted in favor of it.
“Vote Preckwinkle out!” they shouted as they left the room.
The county plan needed five votes to be approved, but only five state board members were present today. Four board members voted for it, and one voted against. The nine-member hospital siting board has three vacancies that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn needs to approve, and one member was absent today.
County officials blamed the vacancies on the board for today's defeat. County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and health system leaders are regrouping and plan to hold a news conference this afternoon.
The county wants to shutter the south suburban hospital and the health system’s $912 million budget is contingent on that happening by June 1, saving the county $25 million to $40 million a year. The plan would replace the inpatient hospital care with an outpatient center, including primary care doctors, specialists and diagnostic testing.
Concerns about job losses and the impact of on the community and other area hospitals resulted in two passionate and emotional public hearings in January and in April.
In March, the state regulatory board voted an “intent to deny” the county’s plan, leading county Board President Toni Preckwinkle to write a letter in April to the board’s chairman Dale Galassie with a warning.
"One concern with a denial ... is that it may ultimately be deemed an attempt on the part of a state agency to require Cook County to maintain certain inpatient serves which are not within its budget and, thus, would be tantamount to an unfunded state mandate," Preckwinkle wrote
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