URBANA — The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to review a Fourth District Appellate Court ruling in August that canceled the property tax exemption of Provena Covenant Medical Center.

Provena had filed a petition for “leave to appeal” that ruling in September, and the state’s high court granted that petition last Wednesday.

“We are pleased to learn that the Illinois Supreme Court has decided that the dispute over the charitable, tax-exempt status of Provena Covenant Medical Center warrants review,” said Lisa Lagger, spokeswoman for Provena Covenant’s parent system, Provena Health, in a Nov. 26 statement.

Lagger continued, “As a Catholic, mission-driven and charitable hospital, Provena Covenant has long been dedicated to providing quality health care to all who come through our doors. We provide vital services every day to those in our community who have no other health care options.”

Provena is “confident” the high court will offer “important guidance and reaffirmation of the role that Provena Covenant and other not-for-profit hospitals play in helping the un- and underinsured in their communities,” Lagger concluded.

Because of this case’s broader implications for the taxable status of non-profit health care institutions, Provena’s appeal has been publicly supported by the American Hospital Association and the Illinois Hospital Association, the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, the Catholic Hospital Association, the Illinois Catholic Hospital Association and the Catholic bishops of Illinois.

At issue is whether or not Provena Covenant Medical Center can be billed for local property taxes. Also in dispute is whether or not local taxing bodies can keep more than $6 million in tax revenue that Provena Covenant has paid since its tax-exempt status was first stripped in 2002.

When the Illinois Department of Revenue determined that Provena Covenant did not offer enough public charity to qualify for a non-profit tax exempt status, Provena sought relief at the circuit court level and had its tax exemption reinstated.

That decision was appealed, however, and the appellate court ruled that the Department of Revenue had not made a clear error in removing the exemption.

“The Appellate Court opinion runs counter to the law, facts and evidence of our case, but also unfairly impugns the proud history of charitable and religious mission service by Provena Covenant Medical Center,” said Jon Sokolski, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, in a Sept. 9 statement announcing Provena’s plans to petition the Illinois Supreme Court.