Peru hospital to open April 7, OSF says

OSF announced an April 7 opening date for the Peru hospital Monday.

The hospital, 925 West St., is tentatively scheduled to open on that day with emergency services and limited inpatient beds, said OSF in a news release Monday.

The news comes a year after the former Illinois Valley Community Hospital, then St. Margaret’s, closed in Peru.

Diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, EKG and respiratory will be available to serve the patients in the ED and inpatient unit. Additional programs and services will become available later in a second phase. There are still many elements that will need to be finalized before officially opening.

“After much planning and preparation, we are excited to open this new OSF campus,” said August Querciagrossa, CEO of Western Region, OSF HealthCare, in Monday’s news release. “All along, our goal has been to preserve and sustain access to high-quality, local health care for the residents of the Illinois Valley. (Monday) is a significant milestone in the history of our Ministry.”

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski said he was overjoyed but also “a little shaken” after the tumult of not having a local hospital for 366 days. The former Illinois Valley Community Hospital was closed Jan. 28, 2023, and Kolowski spent the duration aching for an announcement from OSF.

“It’s been a long year and a day and there have been a lot of sleepless nights,” Kolowski said. “When I met the OSF people for the first time I just knew: these were the people who were going to get this done.”

“It’s just a great day for the people,” he said. “I’ve said right from the gate: we’re come back from this bigger, stronger and better.”

Oglesby Mayor Jason Curran was equally pleased. Oglesby has an especially vocal contingent of senior citizens who clamoring for emergency services and EMS response times were increased when emergency cases were redirected to Mendota.

But Curran said there still are logistical issues yet to be sorted.

“I’m excited to know we have more options, obviously, and I know this will improve our response times, but I still have questions and concerns.”

In addition to the hospital, OSF acquired the former Midtown Plaza complex, Midtown Clinic and Granville Clinic. These sites opened last July and included OSF PromptCare, OSF Medical Group – Primary Care locations, OSF Occupational Health and OSF Rehabilitation. Other new primary care locations opened this month in Spring Valley and Oglesby, along with OSF Medical Group – Obstetrics & Gynecology in Peru. OSF HealthCare has hired more than 450 former employees, physicians and advanced medical providers of St. Margaret’s Health to staff the hospital and other locations.

OSF also serves residents of Mendota, Princeton, Ottawa, Marseilles and Streator with 24/7 emergency services, primary and specialty care, prompt care, OSF OnCall Urgent Care and 24/7 digital urgent care, nurse triage and other types of care.

“OSF HealthCare has provided care to the Illinois Valley and surrounding communities for some time now,” said Dawn Trompeter, president of OSF HealthCare St. Elizabeth Medical Center and OSF HealthCare St. Paul Medical Center. “We are excited to expand our partnership with these communities to provide a local source of health care with all the benefits of a nationally recognized system.”

Monday’s announcement was months in the making and required enormous coordination with state lawmakers, who rejoiced at the news.

“We are very excited with this announcement,” state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris said. “The big celebration will be when full services are again are available to the people of the Illinois Valley, but reopening the emergency room is a necessary first step and we are grateful to OSF for making it a priority to restoring emergency services.”

“It is a great relief to have OSF open the facility and work to stabilize our health care needs in this area,” state Rep. Lance Yednock said. “We have worked hard to get here, and there is more work ahead.”