Tag: vista medical center east

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) — A Level 2 Trauma Center delivers life-saving emergency services for things like heart attack and stroke.

And while hospital officials vow to appeal the state’s decision to strip its designation, it stands for now, leaving Lake County officials worried about what this means for residents in Waukegan and around the area.

The only hospital in a city of nearly 100,000 people, Waukegan’s Vista Medical Center was dealt a hard blow Friday when the Illinois Department of Public Health stripped it of its ability to delivery Trauma 2 Level services. The decision came as a shock to many who believe they should have been warned, including the mayor.

“This would be like a company going under a consent decree and never having a warning letter. They knew. And why was this not discussed ahead of time?” said Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor.

The decision, IDPH said, was made “due to its absence of essential services needed to maintain this designation, including lack of a blood bank, anesthesia, neurology, urology, or a full-time Trauma Coordinator.”

Jennifer Banek is the Lake County coroner. She also, until recently, provided her services as an anesthesia nurse at Vista Medical Center. It was her complaint that led to the IDPH investigation.

“I’ve seen a lot of the medical staff leave,” Banek said. “Anesthesia services have dissipated significantly. There was one particular case where a patient had to wait for emergency surgery for twice as much as she should have.”

The hospital’s California-based ownership is hitting back, refuting the state’s determinations and the accusations made against them.

“We are right now sending them all the agreements that we have for those services,” said American Healthcare Systems Chief Legal Officer Faisal Gill. “We are working with IDPH to get the certification back as soon as possible, because we think there was an error in taking it away. So that’s what we’re focused on. We’re focused on providing good, safe care to the citizens of Waukegan.”

But even as hospital officials vow to fight the state’s decision, for now, what this means is that patients seeking many life-saving emergency services will need to be transferred as much as 20 to 30 minutes farther, with the closest Trauma Centers located in Lake Forest, Libertyville, Highland Park and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

While it’s not clear whether this is possible or not, hospital officials told ABC7 their hope is that the hospital could be recertified as a trauma center as quickly as this week.

The Waukegan City Council will meet on Monday night to discuss the hospital’s future.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) — Vista Medical Center East lost its trauma designation this past Friday following an in-person investigation conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The designation change lead one elected official to declare, on Sunday night, that lives could be lost as a result.

Even as ambulances continued to drop off patients at Waukegan’s Vista Medical Center East on Sunday, the hospital is no longer able to provide many of the critical life-saving services it used to.

The IDPH released a statement, saying, “On February 2, the Illinois Department of Public Health notified Vista Medical Center in Waukegan that its Level II Trauma Center designation has been revoked due to its absence of essential services needed to maintain this designation, including lack of a blood bank, anesthesia, neurology, urology, or a full time Trauma Coordinator. This action does not affect other services at the hospital.

IDPH and state government officials have been in communication with Lake County leaders, surrounding hospitals, trauma centers, and Emergency Medical Service providers in the area to ensure that the residents of Lake County and the region will continue to have access to vital emergency services.”

The impact, said State Sen. Adriane Johnson, will be widespread.

“It’s not just Waukegan. It’s North Chicago. It’s Gurnee. It’s Zion area,” Johnson said.

Leaving Waukegan without a trauma center means some patients will now have to travel anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes further to either Lake Forest, Libertyville, Highland Park or even across the border to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

“That’s just too far. And we do know that depending on the emergency, time is of the essence. Let’s say someone is having a stroke, for example, or a heart attack,” Johnson said. “I’m concerned about the lives that may inevitably be lost in this process when you transport patients to the different hospitals,” Johnson said.

And while the designation change does not impact the other services being offered at Vista Medical, there is concern that the hospital, which has had three different owners over five years, could close entirely if a solution isn’t found that allows them to regain their trauma certification.

ABC7 reached out to Vista Medical for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. The issue is expected to be discussed at length on Monday both by county health officials and during Waukegan’s city council meeting.