Illinois State to the MAC?

[Bird Friend]

I think it is important to note that enrollment isnt flat at 21,000 because nobody is applying, it is flat at 21,000 because there are literally no more seats or beds to put students in. Look at the stats of what it takes to get INTO ISU now. Half of us alums would have never gotten our acceptance letter if we applied in 2024. You now have to have a 3.0+ GPA, like a 26 on your ACT and a list of extracurriculars.

ISU is turning AWAY more students than ever.

Now, when the Engineering college gets moving, enrollment will move from 21000 to close to 23000, but growth is not always about asses in seats, it is about asses that want to be in seats.

Not to mention those engineering asses that were in seats that will be able afford to help build infrastructure to add more asses in seats.

 

[StLRedbird]

BloNo is a medical sink hole. Anyone with a serious medical condition is put on a helicopter to somewhere else and that should be unacceptable to civic leaders. A med school at ISU/Brokaw is needed badly by the community.

 

[Total Red]

BloNo is a medical sink hole. Anyone with a serious medical condition is put on a helicopter to somewhere else and that should be unacceptable to civic leaders. A med school at ISU/Brokaw is needed badly by the community.

It would be great to have a Level I trauma center in BloNo but don't count on it happening. A local med school would help address the need for staffing but that's not the only issue. Even if Carle BroMenn or OSF St. Joe was able to hire the staff to meet Level I requirements (no small task), they would still have the challenge of keeping that staff busy. We're surrounded by established Level I trauma centers in Peoria, Springfield and Urbana.

Carle Urbana would like trauma patients from BloNo/Downs/Leroy to go to Urbana. Springfield Memorial would like BloNo and Lincoln to feed into them. OSF St. Francis Peoria is the big dog, and they are probably the most successful at getting trauma patients from BloNo/Hudson/Goodfield & more sent to Peoria.

Health care is already expensive enough. No one can afford to hire highly trained staff and keep them on call 24/7 if they aren't being actively utilized. A level I trauma center in BloNo would struggle to draw enough patients.

I lived in Urbana/Champ for 23 years and I knew some of the executives at Carle. That's a very aggressive and expansion-minded group and I'm sure they've given some thought to bringing Carle BroMenn up to Level I status, but I don't see either Carle or OSF pursuing Level I in BloNo and a med school wouldn't change that because it doesn't increase the size of the Midstate Illinois medical market.

 

[fourthandshort]

It would be great to have a Level I trauma center in BloNo but don't count on it happening. A local med school would help address the need for staffing but that's not the only issue. Even if Carle BroMenn or OSF St. Joe was able to hire the staff to meet Level I requirements (no small task), they would still have the challenge of keeping that staff busy. We're surrounded by established Level I trauma centers in Peoria, Springfield and Urbana.

Carle Urbana would like trauma patients from BloNo/Downs/Leroy to go to Urbana. Springfield Memorial would like BloNo and Lincoln to feed into them. OSF St. Francis Peoria is the big dog, and they are probably the most successful at getting trauma patients from BloNo/Hudson/Goodfield & more sent to Peoria.

Health care is already expensive enough. No one can afford to hire highly trained staff and keep them on call 24/7 if they aren't being actively utilized. A level I trauma center in BloNo would struggle to draw enough patients.

I lived in Urbana/Champ for 23 years and I knew some of the executives at Carle. That's a very aggressive and expansion-minded group and I'm sure they've given some thought to bringing Carle BroMenn up to Level I status, but they don't want to dilute their own market. I don't see either Carle or OSF pursuing Level I in BloNo and a med school wouldn't change that because it doesn't increase the size of the Midstate Illinois medical market.

Good post TR ... got me thinking about population concentrations across the state:

Springfield is 6th at 114k. Peoria is 8th at 113k. Champaign is 10th at 89k. Bloomington is 12th at 79k, and Normal is just 28th at 51k. But if you combine BloNo, they would have 130k and be ranked 6th .. with sizable lead over Springfield at 114k. Not saying that means we should have a Level 1 hospital, just that the population might support one .. though as you point out, it is about butts in seats/beds and doctors/nurses/admin to support it.

Anyway, it just got me to thinking about population centers in IL. Not sure metro area population #ss would change below by much, like it does for BloNo. Source: Illinois Cities by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Chicago	2,721,914
2	Aurora	181,405
3	Joliet	150,221
4	Naperville	149,089
5	Rockford	148,173
6	Springfield	114,214
7	Elgin	114,190
8	Peoria	113,054
9	Waukegan	89,435
10	Champaign	88,628
11	Cicero	84,189
12	Bloomington	78,788
13	Schaumburg	77,571
14	Evanston	77,181
15	Arlington Heights	76,794
16	Bolingbrook	73,755
17	Decatur	70,975
18	Palatine	67,223
19	Skokie	67,076
20	Des Plaines	60,087
21	Orland Park	58,345
22	Oak Lawn	57,665
23	Berwyn	56,556
24	Mount Prospect	56,191
25	Tinley Park	55,571
26	Oak Park	53,834
27	Wheaton	53,673
28	Normal	52,920

 

[StLRedbird]

It would be great to have a Level I trauma center in BloNo but don't count on it happening. A local med school would help address the need for staffing but that's not the only issue. Even if Carle BroMenn or OSF St. Joe was able to hire the staff to meet Level I requirements (no small task), they would still have the challenge of keeping that staff busy. We're surrounded by established Level I trauma centers in Peoria, Springfield and Urbana.

Carle Urbana would like trauma patients from BloNo/Downs/Leroy to go to Urbana. Springfield Memorial would like BloNo and Lincoln to feed into them. OSF St. Francis Peoria is the big dog, and they are probably the most successful at getting trauma patients from BloNo/Hudson/Goodfield & more sent to Peoria.

Health care is already expensive enough. No one can afford to hire highly trained staff and keep them on call 24/7 if they aren't being actively utilized. A level I trauma center in BloNo would struggle to draw enough patients.

I lived in Urbana/Champ for 23 years and I knew some of the executives at Carle. That's a very aggressive and expansion-minded group and I'm sure they've given some thought to bringing Carle BroMenn up to Level I status, but I don't see either Carle or OSF pursuing Level I in BloNo and a med school wouldn't change that because it doesn't increase the size of the Midstate Illinois medical market.

There is WAY more to this than a Level 1 Trauma Center. There is also the unavailability of specialists and the low quality of the ones that are present in BloNo.

 

[Total Red]

There is WAY more to this than a Level 1 Trauma Center. There is also the unavailability of specialists and the low quality of the ones that are present in BloNo.

If you're talking about putting people on helicopters, which you did, that is normally a situation where emergency/hospital personnel are looking for a nearby Level I trauma center.
I've only lived in Normal-Bloomington for a few years so I can't address the other issues. I'd be interested in hearing your experiences that led to that statement but maybe we're straying too far from an athletics website.

 

[StLRedbird]

If you're talking about putting people on helicopters, which you did, that is normally a situation where emergency/hospital personnel are looking for a nearby Level I trauma center.
I've only lived in Normal-Bloomington for a few years so I can't address the other issues. I'd be interested in hearing your experiences that led to that statement but maybe we're straying too far from an athletics website.

Yeah, we're fairly far afield, but I don't want to leave the impression I'm flame thowing on the internet from STL, which I guess is technically true regardless. My extended family, as well as my wife's, remains in Bloomington. Of my three daughters, one has returned to live there. I know the hospitals better than the ones in my neck of the woods, sorry to say.

I know of three chopper rides out of BloNo hospitals, and none were triggered by a trauma. All were the result of an acknowledgement that a higher standard of care was available in Peoria or Springfield. All three of my daughters births started in Normal, and two ended there. I don't want to harp any further. The community would be better off if ISU had a med school. I won't mention it again, and will deny I ever said it if asked.

 

[Total Red]

I know of three chopper rides out of BloNo hospitals, and none were triggered by a trauma.

I would need to know the specifics of the situations. I'd strongly suspect that these incidents may not have started as trauma, but they progressed into Level 1 trauma conditions. Otherwise there wouldn't be the need to transport.

We're getting in the weeds and it's boring. They're having much more fun on the basketball side talking about elephants.

 

[Hamdonger]

Anyway, it just got me to thinking about population centers in IL. Not sure metro area population #ss would change below by much, like it does for BloNo. Source: Illinois Cities by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Chicago	2,721,914
2	Aurora	181,405
3	Joliet	150,221
4	Naperville	149,089
5	Rockford	148,173
6	Springfield	114,214
7	Elgin	114,190
8	Peoria	113,054
9	Waukegan	89,435
10	Champaign	88,628
11	Cicero	84,189
12	Bloomington	78,788
13	Schaumburg	77,571
14	Evanston	77,181
15	Arlington Heights	76,794
16	Bolingbrook	73,755
17	Decatur	70,975
18	Palatine	67,223
19	Skokie	67,076
20	Des Plaines	60,087
21	Orland Park	58,345
22	Oak Lawn	57,665
23	Berwyn	56,556
24	Mount Prospect	56,191
25	Tinley Park	55,571
26	Oak Park	53,834
27	Wheaton	53,673
28	Normal	52,920

Sure does, at least for Peoria. Peoria's 6 county metro population is over 400K. Metro definitely matters.

 

[Aggie]

I know many farm families in western Illinois that it is cheaper for them to send their kids to Iowa State or Iowa versus Western. This is why Western is not a sustainable option going forward. I also know MaComb County has their emergency response agency headquartered in one of the “abandoned dorms. I also believe that one of the reasons Lincoln Christian University left (closed) Lincoln, Illinois for a consolidation (forced by economics) with the Christian University in Springfield Missouri is that for the “advanced” preaching courses they were way too late to the online education path. Liberty University online really took students away from in person at Lincoln. I just hope ISU is pushing hard enough fast enough in the online arena. I believe to be sustainable successful in the future a place of higher learning has to be both online and in person.
Someone is going to figure out how to provide a really high quality, affordable, online education in the near future that is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the elite university world.