Illinois Valley mayors pledge cooperation, EMS support as Spring Valley hospital closes

How long will the Illinois Valley go without a nearby emergency room? The clock starts running at midnight Saturday.

But local mayors said Friday they’re working on contingencies to ensure rapid-response times by EMS personnel and trying to ready the local workforce for the day when OSF HealthCare restores hospital services in Peru.

Representatives from three cities, Spring Valley, Peru and La Salle and from the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development conducted a news conference Friday to discuss how they’re adapting to the Friday closure of St. Margaret’s Health-Spring Valley.

“We’re doing everything in our power to make the best of a bad situation,” said Spring Valley Mayor Melanie Malooley Thompson.

Ten Spring Valley firefighters are undergoing training to become first responders and the city is updating medical equipment to ensure patients, now facing longer transit times to the emergency room, get life-saving treatment at the first opportunity.

Meanwhile, IVAC is as concerned with finding work for the more than 500 people who worked at the Spring Valley hospital and now are out of a job.

Ever since the Peru facility closed I made it very clear: This is a regional problem.

—  Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski

Bill Zens, IVAC executive director, said employers are working on outreach opportunities to displaced workers. Illinois Valley Community College has a dislocated workers program to help not only nurses and CNAs but to help non-healthcare workers find other jobs in maintenance, food service and ancillary fields.

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski pledged an even greater spirit of cooperation with Spring Valley and the other communities affected by Friday’s closure.

“Ever since the Peru facility closed I made it very clear: This is a regional problem.”

Kolowski acknowledged a long-term hospital closure would jeopardize the region’s economy, “but that’s not our priority right now.” The focus, he said, should be on restoring an emergency room as well as critical services, such as obstetrics and women’s health.

OSF HealthCare has filed the paperwork needed to fully and formally acquire St. Margaret’s Health-Peru and consideration of the request will be heard Aug. 15 by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.

Though she tried to stay positive and forward-thinking, Malooley Thompson didn’t spare the outgoing hospital administration from criticism.

“While we will do everything we can to attract another health service provider to Spring Valley,” she said, “we continue to be frustrated with the lack of communication from the administration of St. Margaret’s Hospital.”