WAUKEGAN, IL — State public health officials restored trauma center status to Vista East Medical Center on Monday, five weeks after they revoked the designation due to the Waukegan hospital’s lack of essential services.
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s restoration of the hospital’s Level II trauma center designation means ambulances will once again be permitted to drop off patients in need of more intense care at the hospital.
“IDPH has reached an agreement with Vista Medical Center that restores the hospital’s Level 2 Trauma Center designation as of today,” said department spokesperson Mike Claffey.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“IDPH’s goal throughout the period since February 2 has been to work with the hospital management to ensure they can provide the essential, life-saving trauma care for the people of Lake County and the surrounding area that are required to hold a trauma center designation,” Claffey told Patch in an email.
Vista was founded in 1923 as Victory Memorial Hospital. Vista Health was formed in 2000 by the merger of Victory Memorial and Provena St. Therese Medical Center, which later closed.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Tennessee-based Quorum Health, which purchased Vista East in 2016, last year sold the hospital to California-based American Healthcare Systems, which paid $23.5 million and assumed its approximately $15 million in debt.
It is currently losing about $2 million a month, its CEO told Crain’s Chicago Business.
After Vista East’s trauma center status was stripped last month, county officials convened a news conference to emphasize the urgency of getting it back.
Mark Pfister, director of the Lake County Health Department, said officials were trying to assist Vista’s new owners regain its trauma center status.
“This community needs a hospital. We want this hospital to be strong. We want these owners to do due diligence and assure that the care that they are giving to our clients, to our residents, are what they deserve,” Pfister said. “We already have enough health inequities in this area, we don’t need more.”
Click Here: cheap converse men low top shoes
But, the health director noted, American Healthcare Systems had not lived up to some of its past pledges.
“Originally, when they bought this hospital, they said they wanted to increase the number of services. They’ve decreased,” he said. “Originally, they said when they bought this hospital that they wanted to go from a Level II to a Level I. They’re at no level right now.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said she began raising the alarm with Vista’s board in December and subsequently filed a complaint about the hospital with state regulators.
“I saw a mass exodus of practitioners. There were anecdotal stories that people were not getting compensated for their time, which was why they were leaving,” Banek said.
Banek, a nurse anesthesiologist, gave an practical example of how staffing deficiencies have affected the hospital, noting at the news conference that it took place after she began documenting issues there.
“Because the obstetricians at Vista were sending their patients elsewhere, the number of births decreased significantly. As a result of that, anesthesia providers were cut in half,” she said. “There was a situation at the end of December where a mother having a baby waited twice the amount of time that she should have waited for an emergency procedure because the anesthesia providers were occupied caring for patients in other rooms.”
The coroner said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services first issued a letter Feb. 1 stating two deficiencies — a failure to ensure appropriate providers and failure to have an institutional plan or budget.
The next day, IDPH revoked Vista East’s trauma center status, citing a lack of a trauma coordinator, anesthesia, blood bank, neurology or urology.
Days later, Banek called on American Healthcare Systems to take immediate action to correct the deficiencies.
“Lives are at stake. Heart attack and stroke patients among others may not survive the drive to other hospitals in Lake County,” Banek said at last month’s news conference. “This issue has been worsening. It did not happen overnight.
American Healthcare Systems CEO Michael Sarian on Monday told Crain’s the company “fought very hard to get these deficiencies corrected.” He previously said some “things fell through the cracks” during last year’s ownership transition.
Earlier: Lake County Hospital Loses Trauma Center Designation
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.