Date: February 15, 2005
Contact: Michael Hopkins
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: m-hopkins@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, February 15, 2005 – Governors State University professors of health administration Donna Gellatly and Dr. Kyusuk Chung presented an overview of a new GSU report on Certificate of Need (CON) programs to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board on February 2.
The report, titled “Certificate of Need Programs: A Comparative Assessment,” is a detailed comparison of Certificate of Need programs in five states, including Illinois. The report makes several recommendations to the board for the Illinois program.
Any facility in Illinois that wishes to build a new healthcare facility or to renovate an existing facility is required by state law to secure a Certificate of Need permit before construction can start. The Health Facilities Planning Board issues Certificates of Need only if projects are deemed necessary.
“Illinois has been in a process of updating old standards and criteria for CON, as mandated by the 2003 Amendatory Act,” said Chung.
Gellatly and Chung’s report recommends, among other things, a further examination of CON reforms made to similar programs in Michigan, Florida and New Jersey.
Chung and Gellatly wrote the report in two parts: Chung prepared the comparative assessment portion of the report. Gellatly, who holds an M.B.A. and a CPA, integrated an analysis of capital financing.
The full report is posted on the Health Facilities Planning Board’s website at www.idph.state.il.us/about/hfpb.htm.
The Health Facilities Planning Board and the Certificate of Need program in Illinois were established by the Illinois Facilities Planning Act of 1974 to contain healthcare cost in Illinois by managing facility construction.
Chung and Gellatly have been funded to follow their report up with projections of need determination, a key component for planning supply of health care.
