Community pushes back against OSF plan to move services from Ottawa

A proposal to relocate obstetrics and intensive care services from Ottawa to Peru once again drew strong public opposition during a state board’s public hearing that could shape the future of local healthcare in eastern La Salle County.

Hundreds of local residents filled the auditorium at Central Intermediate School in Ottawa on Tuesday night for a public hearing before the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. More than 30 speakers, including residents from Streator, Marseilles and Seneca, stepping to the podium and voiced their concerns.

Many speakers shared emotional accounts of life-threatening medical emergencies in which care at OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa made a difference.

Their stories often ended with a lingering question: what would have happened to me or my loved one if that care hadn’t been available nearby?

Among those residents was Tom Walsh, who shared a harrowing personal story to illustrate the stakes of OSF’s proposed ICU service move.

Walsh said he collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest while walking back to his office in March.

Thanks to a good samaritan and fast-acting emergency responders, he was revived and taken to OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, where staff stabilized him before he was flown to Peoria for further treatment.

“When my wife arrived, she was told I had a 5% chance of surviving that flight,” Walsh said. “If things continue down this path, I fear that 5% may have been used up just getting me to another hospital by ambulance.”

Walsh described himself as a “numbers guy” but urged the board to consider more than just data in this situation.

“I ask you to weigh whatever kind of analysis, whatever spreadsheet you’re looking at against the cost of a single human life,” Walsh said.

Susan Tutko walked up to the podium with her recently born child and spoke in opposition to the obstetrics services being moved after a medical emergency she recently had.

“I was four weeks postpartum and suffered a severe postpartum hemorrhage at home,” Tutko said. “To paint the picture - my bathroom looked like a crime scene and in 10 minutes, I had bled through three pads.”

When paramedics arrived, she was considered too unstable to go to Ottawa and was taken to the emergency department in Streator instead.

She recalled feeling the blood drain from her body in waves and becoming dizzy, knowing she only had minutes.

Once stabilized, she was transferred to OSF Saint Elizabeth in Ottawa - a roughly 25-minute trip that felt like a lifetime, she said.

“I prayed the whole way I would make it,” Tutko said. “Thankfully, Ottawa was ready for me. There was an OB doctor waiting to operate and he saved my life.”

Had she been sent to Peru instead, she’s not sure the result would have been the same.

Tutko closed by urging the board not to approve the closure.

“Time is of the essence,” she said. “I oppose closing the OB and ICU units in Ottawa.”

“They saved my life and I believe they will save many others in the future.”

Among the many residents who spoke were also community leaders who have been vocal in opposition to OSF’s proposal since the news first broke.

Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty urged the state board to reject the plan, calling it premature and unfair to smaller communities.

Hasty said that during a recent meeting, OSF informed Ottawa officials all ICU beds would be permanently relocated to Peru, a decision that raised concerns about how future bed needs would be assessed and what data would drive those determinations.

Despite daily demand exceeding 30, OSF is debating whether 12 or 20 beds will suffice, while Ottawa already transfers patients due to lack of capacity, Hasty said.

“If this is about pooling resources, why not centralize from larger facilities in Rockford or Peoria?” Hasty asked. “Why must smaller communities sacrifice access?”

Noting unused ICU beds nearby and Peru’s ICU opening coinciding with Ottawa’s closure, he called the move “reckless” and urged the board to defer the decision until Peru is fully operational, with too much uncertainty about the future of critical care in the region.

State Rep. Amy “Murri” Briel, D-Ottawa, also urged the board to deny OSF’s request, saying the proposal remains vague and lacks detail even after over a year of planning.

“The plan is still light on details and heavy on a lack of knowledge,” Briel said, adding that documents submitted to the state showed minimal progress and no data-driven model to support OSF’s proposal.

“This new concept puts us at the forefront of uncertainty and unanswered questions,” she said. “And in a time when uncertainty is already rampant, that’s the last thing our community needs.”

Briel also criticized the lack of transparency from OSF and a failure to work in good faith with local community leaders.

“As a legislator, if I brought this proposal forward as a bill, my colleagues would chuckle and tell me to come back when it’s fully baked,” she said. “Because this plan is not.”

Looking ahead, the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board is expected to officially vote on OSF’s proposal at its next meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Embassy Suites, 100 Conference Center Drive, East Peoria.

The meeting is open to the public and written comments on the proposal will be accepted through July 23.

For more information on the meeting or how to submit comments, visit the state panel’s website.

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State Rep. Amy “Murri” Briel, D-Ottawa, speaks to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board during a public hearing regarding OSF St. Elizabeth Hospital's plans to reduce services on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at Central Intermediate School in Ottawa. (Scott Anderson)