Published Dec. 17, 2009                                                         

Hospital public hearing continued to January
Concerns over a helistop on the property leave commissioners with big decisions ahead

By Christine Cuthbert
ccuthbert@thehinsdalean.com
 

   After hours of testimony and public comments from residents concerned about noise led the Hinsdale Plan Commission to continue the Dec. 9 public hearing regarding the $75 million Adventist Hinsdale Hospital modernization project until January.
   Most residents were in favor of the building addition to the hospital, which would include a patient pavilion and convert all patient rooms to private ones. But many voiced concerns over a proposed helistop on the roof of the parking garage. Patients with critical needs would be flown out roughly 12 times a year.
   Hospital officials are asking for a text amendment to allow a helistop, a planned unit development modification to build a four-story addition on the south side of the current facility and a special use permit to allow the use of the helistop. The text amendment states the helistop wouldn’t allow any incoming patients to be flown to the hospital.
   Prior to hearing from residents, commissioners listened a 90-minute presentation from hospital officials, a safety expert from the Illinois Department of Transportation, doctors and consultants.
   Noise consultant Bernard Berry presented findings from a Dec. 1 study that gauged the noise of hovering helicopters and regular community noise. With roughly 140 trains passing through the neighborhood on the Burlington Northern line daily, Berry found the noise of one monthly helicopter landing to be minimal. Jerry Lay, a safety expert with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Aeronautical Division, said when a landing occurs residents will hear the sound for roughly 40 seconds to a minute.
   “(The helicopter) will not significantly impact the noise levels of the community given all the other community noise,” Berry said in conclusion.
   Dr. Sherwin Waldman, who works in the emergency room and is president of the physicians staff, also outlined the importance of being able to get patients to a level one trauma center when the situation calls for it. Currently those who need to be airlifted have to be taken by ambulance up to the helistop on Ogden Avenue, a process that can take 60 to 90 minutes.
   “I think we owe this to our community and the patients we serve to provide the best medical care we can,” he said.
   Several Hinsdaleans spoke out in support of the helistop, saying it’s important for the well-being of residents.
   “I stand here today with clean arteries and a beating heart because of the hospital,” resident Dean Mefford said. “It should be clear to everyone by now the pluses of the helistop far outweigh the negatives. I know if I needed critical care, those helicopter blades would sound like Mozart to me.”
   Mark Ripino, who lives on Chicago Avenue next to the railroad tracks across from the hospital, said anyone who lives in that neighborhood shouldn’t be concerned about noise given how loud it already is.
   “Noise is not an issue for us. We’re good. We’ve got plenty,” he said. “Twelve times a year (it’s suppose to land), let’s say it lands 24 times a year, that still doesn’t compare to 140 times a day (when the train comes through). The hospital gives this town life and I know that personally.”
   Ripino’s children were born prematurely at Hinsdale Hospital at a pound-and-a-half each.
   “When people do a cost-benefit analysis to the community, what they mean is a cost-benefit analysis to me,” he added.
   While Ripino and others believed the helistop would be a huge benefit to the community, some thought it could be unsafe and depreciate the value of their homes. Neighboring residents also questioned whether more flights will be permitted in the future.
   “If I thought it was going to be 12, I think I could live with it, but I don’t think it’s going to be 12,” Chris Higgins said. “If Good Samaritan is doing 500 helicopter takeoffs a year, how can we say it’s going to stay at 12?”
    Higgins also voiced concern of the safety of helicopters hovering over neighborhoods and cited National Transportation Safety Board reports on medical helicopter crashes. She also has had three real estate agents tell her the installation of the helistop would lower the value of her home.
   “I’m starting to think the hospital is outgrowing our community,” she said.
   Scott Thick, who lives on County Line Road, agreed.
   “I don’t need an expert — helicopters are loud,” he said. “Your job is to look at the overall community and the negatives this is going to have on our community. Selfishly thinking, I saved for four years to buy a home in Hinsdale, and I don’t want to see the value diminished.”
   As the clock approached 1 a.m. commissioners agreed to hold off on making a decision until the January meeting because the requests were tied together and they wanted to give residents adequate time to review reports that were made available the day of the hearing.
   “We’ve taken in a lot of information, but this is a huge expansion too and there’s a lot to take in there,” Chairman Neale Byrnes said.
   “We have one easy decision and one hard decision,” Commissioner Dennis Parsons added. “What I don’t want to do is approve anything and then have it rescinded because of a procedural problem.”
   The discussion will be continued at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the Memorial Building, 19 E. Chicago Ave. A complete plan commission packet, including information on the hospital expansion and helistop, can be found at www.villageofhinsdale.org. Click on village meeting calendar and then on plan commission in the Dec. 9 box.