Taskforce to stop rural hospitals closing passes IL House committee

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — As rural hospitals close or cut services all across Illinois, a freshman State House Democrat wants to figure out why.

The plan would create a taskforce to answer that question. Hospitals have had issues from ransomware attacks, cyberattacks that target hospital computers, lock access away from doctors and only return access after a fee has been paid.

This taskforce would try to find answers to help keep these rural hospitals up and running. State Rep. Amy Murri Briel (D-Ottawa) said in her district she has had four hospitals close in six years.

"We have a healthcare problem across the state," Briel said. "Whether you live in the suburbs or the city or in rural areas, but what we're not doing is looking at it from the ground up and seeing what communities need."

Republicans in the committee voted against the bill.

"A taskforce from what we've seen is that they end up delaying help and not putting resources where they're needed to fix the problem," State Rep. William Hauter (R-Morton) said.

The proposal passed the House public health committee on a partisan 5-2 vote. It now heads to the House floor where lawmakers could talk about it in the coming weeks.