Save the Date and Status update: Freestanding Birth Centers- Illinois

[Gayle Riedmann]

Attention Birth Center Supporters!

We are pleased to announce that the Illinois Department of Public
Health has made available to us a preliminary draft of the Rules and
Regulations for the Illinois Safe Childbirth Act -SB264, Public Act
95-0445 - Free Standing Birth Centers.

The Birth Center Task Force has identified a select committee of
experts to review and comment on the draft, with feedback submitted in
time for discussion at the Illinois Department of Heath’s Rules
Committee meeting in late August.

From that point the Rules will then continue their journey of approval
through the state system. We are hopeful that the Rules and
Regulations for Freestanding Birth Centers will be finalized in
January, 2009. It will then be possible for hospitals, federally
qualified health centers, and individuals to establish and then apply
for both a Certificate of Need and a licensure to operate a Free
Standing Birth Center in Illinois.

It is the goal of the Birth Center Task Force to promote coordination
and communication among interested parties in the establishment of
birth centers throughout Illinois. The Health and Medicine Policy
Research Group has offered to field queries and promote discussion
among individuals and groups who have an interest in establishing a
birth center in Illinois. To that end, we have planned a fall
conference in conjunction with the American Association of Birth
Centers (AABC) as follows:

SAVE THE DATE! November 17-18, 2008

Moving Forward: Delivering Freestanding Birth Centers in Illinois
The Carleton Hotel, Oak Park, IL

For additional information or a brochure please e-mail Health and
Medicine at birthcen...@gmail.com .

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Gayle Riedmann, CNM
Chair, Illinois Birth Center Task Force
Member, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group