It looks like the Kishwaukee Hospital mental health unit won’t have a snowball’s chance of ever re-opening if the latest actions by the Hospital Board and CEO Kevin Poorten pay off.

We just found out that the hospital has hired a national health care consulting firm to coach them and move their application through the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.

This firm (on the web at consultprism.com) has assigned one of its top consultants, Janet Scheuerman of Valparaiso, Ind. to handle this case.

Instead of relying on their own PR and marketing staff at Kishwaukee, they will spend thousands and maybe tens of thousands of dollars on this outside firm to get their application ushered through the approval process.

Instead of spending their budget on mental health care, they chose to throw money at getting the Mental Health Unit closed permanently. This is a sad revelation for the many patients, their families and even NIU student health care providers who need this inpatient service.

The hospital board has continued to show callous disregard for the wishes of the many citizens who testified at the Mental Health Board public forum, and now members refuse to even talk with us about it, until their CEO Poorten and Board chair banker Mike Cullen meet me.

They must feel pretty smug and confident that their professional “spin doctors” from PRISM Healthcare will get the job done, despite the wishes and needs of the many people in DeKalb County who may seek mental health care in the future.

We will not be deterred in our efforts to re-open the unit nor scared by pricey outside consultants, the same kind who come in to run political campaigns for well-heeled politicians who can’t rely on local folks to win an election.

The hospital may have all the money it needs (their budget is also kept secret) to wage this battle against providing mental health care but they are losing the respect and confidence of the public that is witnessing the kind of careless behavior from a board that follows their CEO lockstep in his blind determination to shut down mental health care.

If you want to keep up with this saga, go to www.dekalbcountylife.com and click on Mental Health.

The pubic hearing on the unit’s closure is now set at DeKalb City Hall for May 8 at 10 a.m. We would welcome your input and support, unlike the hospital board.

Barry Schrader, Class of 1963

DeKalb County Citizens for Better Mental Health Care