From the SouthtownStar:
Drugs, extortion scams and health care
Phil Kadner
April 6, 2008
People keep asking me if the proposed closing of St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island might be connected to Stuart Levine.
Levine is the star witness in the ongoing federal corruption trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a major fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
He has admitted to taking large quantities of drugs and engaging in plots to extort huge sums of money while sitting on the state's Health Facilities Planning Board.
But, as Blagojevich's spokespeople might say, you can't really connect Levine to St. Francis.
Blagojevich was the guy who appointed Levine to the planning board. His people have said there was nothing illegal about that. The governor has been charged with no crime.
But I can see how people might jump to conclusions.
The Health Facilities Planning Board decides if new hospitals can be built.
And the corporation that owns St. Francis did purchase 66 acres in Orland Park hoping to build a hospital there, which it contends could have offset the financial losses of the hospital in Blue Island if the board had approved its plan.
But Levine - who at various times took vast quantities of crystal methamphetamine, kaetamine (also known as Special K), cocaine and Ecstasy - had nothing to do with the fate of St. Francis.
That decision was made after he left the board.
And that was about the time Levine switched to Xanax as his drug of choice because the FBI was following him.
Back to the Health Facilities Planning Board, where Levine served with Dr. Imad Almanaseer and Thomas Beck.
Beck, who has been granted immunity in the Rezko trial, headed the planning board when Rezko allegedly rigged votes on a hospital construction program. Beck testified he received instructions from Rezko before board meetings and wrote those instructions down on index cards he passed out to other board members.
St. Francis' proposal to build in Orland Park wasn't being deliberated at that point.
But Mercy Health Systems was trying to build an $81 million hospital in McHenry County, and Beck and Levine both voted "yes."
Unfortunately, Dr. Almanaseer apparently failed to read his index card. He voted "pass," meaning he wasn't supporting the project.
As Daily Southtown health reporter Alice Hohl noted at the time, Levine got out of his chair and whispered to Beck. Levine then went over and whispered something to Almanaseer.
Almanaseer then announced he suddenly saw new merit to the project and voted "yes."
He, like Beck, has been granted immunity by the federal government in exchange for his testimony at the Rezko trial.
The $1.5 million bribe allegedly arranged in exchange for those Mercy "yes" votes never was paid because the hospital never was built.
Did any of this have an impact on competing plans later put forward by other hospitals to build in Orland Park?
Could it be said the lives of millions of people have been impacted because the Health Facilities Planning Board was corrupt at one point in time?
If St. Francis closes and 1,400 jobs are lost and the resulting patient load stresses other hospitals in the area, can that be blamed on political corruption?
You may as well say the Democratic governor had a hand in all of this because he reappointed the Republican Levine to the board.
That would be like saying just because Blagojevich flew out to New York on a fundraising trip on a plane Levine paid for that the governor was somehow influenced by this drug-addicted, lying con man.
Where's the evidence?
I can't blame the governor's public relations folks for getting touchy every time the subject is broached. Blagojevich didn't know what was going on, they say.
You can call him an idiot, a fool and a moron, but there's no reason to believe the governor knew about any of the corruption in his administration.
Sometimes, as a politician, you just have to appoint complete scumbags to key positions that may impact the lives of millions of people.
Did I mention health care is this governor's top priority?
Is the closing of St. Francis the price we pay for corruption in this state?
In theory, I suppose honest folks on a Health Facilities Planning Board may have spent time thinking about what was best for the future of the state.
Levine, he's the reality.