Rockford residents react to recent MercyHealth announcements

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - The twenty bed mental health inpatient unit is reportedly the latest casualty at MercyHealth’s Rockton Avenue campus as the Rockford Register Star reports that the hospital is closing its behavioral health unit after its only full time psychiatrist left in July. The move has been made without a public hearing or state approval.

The news comes a day after the hospital announces its eliminating the trauma unit at the Rockton Campus as part of a streamlining of emergency services to the Riverside location.

“This hospital is needed on this side of town extremely bad,” said Rockford resident Julianna Lieb.

Long time Rockford residents Bob and Julianna Lieb live right near the Rockton campus and are upset by their recent consolidation efforts.

“There’s always ambulances going up and down it’s always busy I don’t see how Javon Bea can do this I think it’s horrible,” said Lieb.

Rockford reps say they weren’t happy to hear the news either.

“It’s disheartening because today I got a call from a resident who is 95 years old and she said ‘You know alderman I’m just worried if something happens to me they’re going to have to take me in an ambulance across town and it’s gonna take 20 minutes,’ " said Alderperson Bill Rose.

“You know they’re putting everything on the East Side we don’t have nothing over here we got all these cornfields and you know available spaces where we could really boom up the west side and it’s not being done so eventually its just going to be a ghost town over here,” said Rockford resident Bob Lieb.

The Lieb’s say they wish more investments were being made to their side of town instead of taken away.

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