Sycamore Mayor Pushes $10.7M Hospital Revival as Former Owners Fight Back

A shuttered hospital. A $10.7 million bid to bring it back. And a fight that will be decided in Normal next week.

The former Sycamore Kindred Hospital building at 225 Edward St. could become a 52-bed long-term acute care facility. Developers are asking the state to let them spend $10.7 million to modernize the downtown Sycamore property. But the building's former owners are fighting it.

Sycamore Mayor Steve Braser is asking residents to show up at a state hearing on June 2 to support the project. The meeting starts at 11 a.m. at the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board office at 201 Broadway Ave. in Normal.

"In addition to its clinical importance, this project will generate meaningful economic benefits for the City of Sycamore and the surrounding region," Braser wrote in a letter filed with the state review board. "The development and operation of the hospital will result in the creation of numerous permanent jobs, including clinical, administrative, and support positions."

Who is behind the proposal

Accelerated Medical Facilities, LLC bought the building from Vencor for $313,863 on May 2, 2025, according to DeKalb County property records and state board documents. The company filed a Certificate of Need application to open Sycamore Specialty Hospital at the site.

If approved, the facility would operate with:

• 40 long-term acute care beds
• 12 inpatient rehabilitation beds

The project's total capitalization is listed at $16.7 million. Of that, $10.7 million is earmarked for building modernization. The remaining $6 million would serve as working capital.

Why the former owner opposes it

Scion Health shuttered the Sycamore Kindred Hospital in 2025. But documents show the healthcare company's legal team is pushing back against the revival attempt.

Joseph Hylak-Reinholtz, a lawyer representing Kindred Healthcare Operating, filed a letter asking the state health board to block the new facility. He outlined three reasons for the opposition.

• The state's most recent bed inventory did not identify a need for additional long-term acute care hospital beds in Health Service Area 1, which includes Sycamore.
• The State Board unanimously approved the discontinuation of Kindred's LTACH at the exact same address on March 18, 2025, "thereby expressly recognizing that LTACH services were not needed at that location in Sycamore."
• The application was "legally defective" because a former legal counsel of Kindred prepared it.

"Kindred opposes the application for three independent reasons," Hylak-Reinholtz wrote in his letter to the state review board.

Who supports the plan

Javon R. Bea, president and CEO of Mercyhealth, sent a letter to the board on Feb. 17 supporting the project.

"The availability of a long-term acute care hospital in Sycamore would provide an additional option within the region for clinically appropriate patients requiring extended acute level services," Bea wrote. "Access to these services locally may support continuity of care and allow patients and families to remain closer to their home communities when appropriate."

Who opposes it

James R. Prister, president and CEO of RML Specialty Hospital, a nonprofit organization with campuses in Chicago and Hinsdale, also wrote to the state review board in opposition.

"Contrary to the Applicants' assertion, there is a significant overcapacity of LTAC beds in the Chicago metropolitan area today and little to no chance of the current supply/demand imbalance being corrected by market growth," Prister wrote.

Questions about the budget

State board staff raised concerns about whether the project has enough money to survive its early months. Long-term acute care hospitals typically operate at a loss during their first 12 to 18 months.

"While the modernization budget may be sufficient for renovations depending on the facility's existing condition, the remaining $6 million in working capital, the Staff believes will likely be insufficient to cover the ramp-up phase typical for LTACs, which often operate in the red for the first 12–18 months," board staff wrote in their report.

What happens next

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board will hear the application at its June 2 meeting in Normal. Mayor Braser is urging supporters to attend and speak in favor of the project. The board's decision will determine whether the former Kindred Hospital building rises again as a working healthcare facility or remains shuttered.

For Sycamore residents, the outcome could mean new jobs and expanded local healthcare options. Or it could confirm that the downtown building's days as a hospital are over.