URBANA — Olivia Brown of Urbana says she'd like to get her medical care through Provena, but so many of Provena's doctors have left.

Will a merger Provena Health is seeking with Resurrection Health Care improve access to care for patients like her? she wonders.

"I want to be a Provena patient, but all my doctors are gone," she said at a public hearing Tuesday before a state review panel that will decide whether Provena and Resurrection can go forward with their merger plans.

The merger would create the largest Catholic health care system in Illinois — bringing together 12 hospitals operated by Mokena-based Provena and Chicago-based Resurrection, among them two Provena hospitals in Urbana and Danville.

The two organizations also have 28 long-term care and senior residential facilities, more than 50 primary and specialty care clinics and six home health agencies.

The merger is set to come before the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board for a hearing and possible decision at its Oct. 12-13 meeting in Joliet.

Mike Brown, regional CEO of Provena Covenant and Provena United Samaritans medical centers, said the merger will benefit the local hospitals and their roles as major employers in their communities.

But John Hilty of Urbana said the prospect of the merger makes him uncomfortable because he believes the larger an organization becomes, the less responsive it becomes, and the larger the organization, the more likely it is to engage in lawsuits.

He also said he doesn't necessarily believe a larger organization will reap financial benefits from economies of scale because health care organizations aren't a store. They're labor-intensive, and larger organizations don't necessarily bring lower prices for consumers.

Hilty and several speakers questioned what kind of financial assistance policies for needy patients a larger, merged Provena and Resurrection organization will have.

Valerie McWilliams, managing attorney for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Champaign, said Provena's financial assistance policy has been a moving target over the past decade.

However, she said, the merger presents an opportunity to improve the financial assistance programs of all 12 hospitals involved.

Research done by Champaign County Health Care Consumers found Provena hospitals gave more financial assistance (as a percentage of their net income) than Resurrection hospitals did in 2009 reports.

Provena hospitals ranged from 1.8 percent to 3.5 percent in financial assistance, and Resurrection hospitals ranged from 0.3 to 2 percent, with most of their hospitals below 1.2 percent.

Claudia Lennhoff, executive director of Health Care Consumers, said Provena has agreed to involve community advocates in crafting the new financial assistance policy for the merged organization, and her organization looks forward to collaborating with Provena at its corporate system level.

Thomas Nehring, Provena's system senior vice president for mission services, said the two Catholic health care providers will work together to create a system that is accessible and available to everyone.

"Today, the needs of the poor and the marginalized are greater than ever," he said.