Laws should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances times and places

Hospitals and other health care providers need the flexibility to quickly respond to a looming health crisis. Prevalence of the COVID-19 virus can cause a family deficiency in Illinois hospitals if the incidence rate is met.

But old country regulations could block the road.

Before expanding bed capacity, Illinois hospitals usually require obtaining state approval by obtaining a "certificate of need" or CON, after completing a long process to demonstrate that a new bed is necessary.

Fortunately, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act grants GB Pritzker Governor emergency powers to suspend any provisions of a regulatory law that would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary actions by the state or state agencies. Pritzker has the authority under the law to suspend the CON Act in the event of a public health emergency. The governor has already announced plans to convert the McCormick Place Chicago Convention Center into a 3,000-bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients by April 24. But the suspension of CON laws would give hospitals across the state the flexibility to expand capacity without waiting for government approval.

By suspending the CON law to give hospitals across the state the ability to add bed capacity and other necessary infrastructure immediately, Pritzker will follow North Carolina's leadership, which has temporarily lifted one of CON's most restrictive laws to tackle the epidemic.

Illinois must suspend its law, then repeal completely.

CON laws can stand in the way of smart responses to future health crises. And they fail to achieve their primary goals - reducing healthcare costs while improving the quality of healthcare at the same time. In fact, researchers found in 2011 that Illinois had 87 additional hospitals and 20 additional mobile care centers if not for this outdated system.

COVID-19 patients are expected to overwhelm Illinois hospitals

According to the Harvard Global Health Institute, or HGHI, the best mathematical modeling scenario will see 20% of the adult Illinois population, or nearly 2 million people, infected with the new coronary lung virus, which will overwhelm state hospitals.

There are very few hospital beds in Illinois to treat COVID-19 patients

According to HGHI, if nearly 2 million people become infected, it may require 400,000, or 20%, hospitalization and more than 88,000, or 4%, may require treatment in the intensive care unit, or intensive care unit. As of March 24, 16% of infected patients needed hospitalization and 4% needed intensive care unit care, according to the Chicago Tribune. The HGHI study does not include the newly announced 3000-bed beds for McCormick Place Field Hospital, but it illustrates how dangerous an incidence of coronavirus infection will be to the ability of the Illinois Hospital if this number of infections occurs within six months or spreads over 12 months or 18 months.

Illinois has 30,006 hospital beds, according to HGHI, except for 3,000 new beds planned for McCormick Place Field Hospital. If all cases of COVID-19 occurred within six months, the country would need 27,409 beds to treat all patients appropriately. By comparing HGHI forecasts with the statistics of the Illinois Department of Public Health, or IDPH, as of March 23, the state will have the following needs.

A bed other than the ICU needs:

Illinois has 12,588 non-ICU beds available as of March 23, according to IDPH.
HGHI estimates that in Illinois 21,293 beds may be available, but only if the occupancy rate for non-COVID-19 patients is reduced by 50%.
If all COVID-19 infections occur within six months, the number of beds that do not need the necessary intensive care unit, according to HGHI, is 129% of the beds available.
If COVID-19 hospitals spread over 18 months, it would require 42% of potential bed capacity in Illinois.
Intensive Care Bed Needs:

Illinois has 1,106 ICU beds available as of March 23, according to IDPH.
HGHI estimates that Illinois could only have 2,448 ICU beds potentially available but would need 5,875 beds, or 243% of potential ICU capacity, if all cases of COVID-19 occurred within six months.
If the infection occurs over 18 months, it will still require 79% of potential ICU capacity.
The Illinois Con Law deprives hospitals of the required flexibility

If the Illinois Hospital wants to increase its bed capacity by 20 beds or 10%, whichever is lower, over a period of two years, Illinois State Law requires approval from the Health Facilities and Services Review Board. This law is to be repealed on December 31, 2029.

Based on the possible number of COVID-19 patients, any sufficient increase in bed capacity requires Board approval. Bed capacity restrictions also apply to reclassifying beds for a different purpose and moving beds from one location to another, even if there is no net increase in total bed capacity. This deprives hospitals of much-needed flexibility to respond to the rapidly changing needs of patients and society