On July 1, 2020 Mercyhealth submitted a 75 page document to petition the State of Illinois/IDPH to close their inpatient behavioral medicine unit. Per their petition, the unit has been underutilized and would fall under the qualifications of approval for closure. The problem is that this legal document is riddled with inaccuracies and flat out false information. This 14 bed unit has been slashed to 6 beds to justify the closure on paper. This remains one of two behavioral medicine units in Rockford and in a county of 250,000+ people we cannot afford to lose these beds. Please visit the following link to find the petition and read how to request a hearing: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/hfsrb/rules/Pages/PN-E-032-20.aspx

Additionally, please sign this petition and contact state legislators to let them know how desperate our city is for these beds.