There were many hugs and tears among about 200 people in the St. Margaret’s Health Peru parking lot this morning as the 7am closure came and went. Many of those in the crowd were employees laid off just this past week. They used the word family a lot to describe how they got along at the hospital where some of the signage still bears the old name, Illinois Valley Community Hospital.
A 22-year employee who didn’t want to give her name said a mother and her baby delivered by caesarean section Thursday night were discharged already. There wasn’t much time for the woman to recover, heal, and learn what maternity teams teach new moms. The employee was on the last shift that walked out of the hospital this morning.
So was AnnMarie Depenbrock. She has worked at the hospital for just three months. The obstetrics department CNA says moms who were counting on the hospital and their babies don’t deserve what’s happening.
Depenbrock doesn’t know where she’ll go, but she’s young and beginning her career. Some of the hospital’s employees worked there for close to 40 years and are worried that the closure is the start of a sooner-than-expected retirement. One employee said she’s looking for hospital work as far away as Peoria because she doesn’t feel there are opportunities locally.
SMP Health says it wants to reopen the Peru hospital as a rural emergency hospital. It would provide medical services without an emergency room. A new federal law allows it in states that also allow it. An Illinois law passed and signed with St. Margaret’s Health Peru in mind allows it. The designation can bring $3.5 million in financial aid to help overcome the money problems SMP Health cited among the reasons for the closure.
However, it’s not likely to come for a few months at least. State and federal regulators must review the plan and agree that it’s appropriate. In an interview on WCMY yesterday, St. Rep. Lance Yednock criticized SMP Health for not getting a better handle on financial troubles it should have recognized months ago. The hospital system this week apologized for the sudden closure notice.
The last shift at St. Margaret’s Health Peru leaves the building. January 28, 2023
The crowd outside St. Margaret’s Health Peru January 28, 2023
One last group photo at what was Illinois Valley Community Hospital. January 28, 2023
The signs the last shift at St. Margaret’s Health Peru made. January 28, 2023