Peoria Officials To Host Reopening Plan Press Conference May 13

Press release from the Peoria County Government:

May 13, 2020

City of Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew A. Rand, and Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson will give an overview of their proposed Heart of Illinois Sub-Region Reopening Plan at a virtual press conference on Wednesday, May 13 at 11:00 a.m. Regional Mayors and County Board Chairpersons will also be in attendance.

The meeting will be livestreamed on Peoria County’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/peoriacountygov. It will also be available to watch on Public Access Channel 22, Peoria County’s homepage (www.peoriacounty.org), and City of Peoria YouTube page @cityofpeoriatv (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFSvbSbrYFWbq_YbYEJRR2w).

The plan identifies a phased-reopening plan for a sub-region of the larger North-Central Health Region. This sub-region, identified as the Heart of Illinois, is comprised of the following counties: Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton, Marshall, Stark, McLean, Livingston, Bureau, Putnam, and LaSalle. The phases utilize metrics set forth by the Peoria City/County Health Department.

"This plan is thoughtful, thorough, and easily adaptable by other sub-regions of the state,” says City of Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. “It was guided by science, and we’re proud to have the endorsement of our local hospital leadership. This plan will assist in the implementation of the Governor’s Restore Illinois Plan. Our medical metrics are very stable and have been for weeks. We are ready to carefully begin getting our region up and running. Area Mayors and Country Board members support this plan. We hope the Governor will, too."

County Board Chairman Andrew Rand remarked, “Central Illinois residents heeded the urgency of the Executive Order and related advisories to stem the spread of this lethal virus. We have also learned much together while enduring unprecedented disruptions to our daily lives.” When asked to comment about re-opening businesses, Rand commented, “To further validate the on-going sacrifices being made by our region we must begin to move our economy forward using evidenced-based practices in this Heart of Illinois plan as soon as possible.”

Presentation Slides Available Here

Proposed HOI Plan

This press release was produced by the Peoria County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.