Public Act 099-0551
 
HB4964 EnrolledLRB099 19300 RJF 43692 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act is
amended by changing Section 8.5 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 3960/8.5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2019)
    Sec. 8.5. Certificate of exemption for change of ownership
of a health care facility; discontinuation of a health care
facility or category of service; public notice and public
hearing.
    (a) Upon a finding that an application for a change of
ownership is complete, the State Board shall publish a legal
notice on one day in a newspaper of general circulation in the
area or community to be affected and afford the public an
opportunity to request a hearing. If the application is for a
facility located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area, an
additional legal notice shall be published in a newspaper of
limited circulation, if one exists, in the area in which the
facility is located. If the newspaper of limited circulation is
published on a daily basis, the additional legal notice shall
be published on one day. The applicant shall pay the cost
incurred by the Board in publishing the change of ownership
notice in newspapers as required under this subsection. The
legal notice shall also be posted on the Health Facilities and
Services Review Board's web site and sent to the State
Representative and State Senator of the district in which the
health care facility is located. An application for change of
ownership of a hospital shall not be deemed complete without a
signed certification that for a period of 2 years after the
change of ownership transaction is effective, the hospital will
not adopt a charity care policy that is more restrictive than
the policy in effect during the year prior to the transaction.
An application for a change of ownership need not contain
signed transaction documents so long as it includes the
following key terms of the transaction: names and background of
the parties; structure of the transaction; the person who will
be the licensed or certified entity after the transaction; the
ownership or membership interests in such licensed or certified
entity both prior to and after the transaction; fair market
value of assets to be transferred; and the purchase price or
other form of consideration to be provided for those assets.
The issuance of the certificate of exemption shall be
contingent upon the applicant submitting a statement to the
Board within 90 days after the closing date of the transaction,
or such longer period as provided by the Board, certifying that
the change of ownership has been completed in accordance with
the key terms contained in the application. If such key terms
of the transaction change, a new application shall be required.
    Where a change of ownership is among related persons, and
there are no other changes being proposed at the health care
facility that would otherwise require a permit or exemption
under this Act, the applicant shall submit an application
consisting of a standard notice in a form set forth by the
Board briefly explaining the reasons for the proposed change of
ownership. Once such an application is submitted to the Board
and reviewed by the Board staff, the Board Chair shall take
action on an application for an exemption for a change of
ownership among related persons within 45 days after the
application has been deemed complete, provided the application
meets the applicable standards under this Section. If the Board
Chair has a conflict of interest or for other good cause, the
Chair may request review by the Board. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this Act, for purposes of this Section, a
change of ownership among related persons means a transaction
where the parties to the transaction are under common control
or ownership before and after the transaction is completed.
    Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the
Board to impose any conditions, obligations, or limitations,
other than those required by this Section, with respect to the
issuance of an exemption for a change of ownership, including,
but not limited to, the time period before which a subsequent
change of ownership of the health care facility could be
sought, or the commitment to continue to offer for a specified
time period any services currently offered by the health care
facility.
    (a-3) Upon a finding that an application to close a health
care facility is complete, the State Board shall publish a
legal notice on 3 consecutive days in a newspaper of general
circulation in the area or community to be affected and afford
the public an opportunity to request a hearing. If the
application is for a facility located in a Metropolitan
Statistical Area, an additional legal notice shall be published
in a newspaper of limited circulation, if one exists, in the
area in which the facility is located. If the newspaper of
limited circulation is published on a daily basis, the
additional legal notice shall be published on 3 consecutive
days. The legal notice shall also be posted on the Health
Facilities and Services Review Board's web site and sent to the
State Representative and State Senator of the district in which
the health care facility is located. In addition, the health
care facility shall provide notice of closure to the local
media that the health care facility would routinely notify
about facility events.
    (a-5) Upon a finding that an application to discontinue a
category of service is complete and provides the requested
information, as specified by the State Board, an exemption
shall be issued. No later than 30 days after the issuance of
the exemption, the health care facility must give written
notice of the discontinuation of the category of service to the
State Senator and State Representative serving the legislative
district in which the health care facility is located.
    (b) If a public hearing is requested, it shall be held at
least 15 days but no more than 30 days after the date of
publication of the legal notice in the community in which the
facility is located. The hearing shall be held in the affected
area or community in a place of reasonable size and
accessibility and a full and complete written transcript of the
proceedings shall be made. The applicant shall provide a
summary of the proposal for distribution at the public hearing.
    (c) For the purposes of this Section "newspaper of limited
circulation" means a newspaper intended to serve a particular
or defined population of a specific geographic area within a
Metropolitan Statistical Area such as a municipality, town,
village, township, or community area, but does not include
publications of professional and trade associations.
(Source: P.A. 98-1086, eff. 8-26-14; 99-154, eff. 7-28-15.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.