In a letter to employees and a news release to the media, Unity Point Health CEO and President Clay Holderman, announced that the Iowa-based health system had entered into discussions with officials at Carle Health that could see Peoria’s Methodist and Proctor along with Pekin Hospital changing ownership partners.

The news is shocking.

Unity Point Health is a $4.6-billion health system with 39 hospitals, close to 450 clinics, 14 home health agencies, seven mental health facilities, and four accredited health colleges.

On the other hand, Carle Health has five hospitals, the largest in Urbana with 453 beds. They also own BroMenn in Bloomington with 221 beds; Eureka Hospital, 25 beds; Richland Memorial Hospital, 24 beds; and the Hoopeston Regional Health Center with 24 beds. Total beds for Carle is close to 750.

Methodist, Proctor and Pekin together have almost as many beds at 657.

The question, then, is why would the three Peoria-area hospitals have any interest in leaving a large and highly successful health system to be managed by a small central Illinois group of hospitals? It appears they don’t have a choice. Rumor is, from people far more knowledgeable than this writer, the local hospitals have been struggling financially since the 1990’s, when the Methodist president implemented an early retirement program to cut labor costs. The next CEO started building expensive clinics that are empty today. The nursing school was upgraded to a college and a large new school was constructed miles from the medical center on Glen Oak. The bottom line is the bottom line.

Methodist allegedly was in financial trouble due to losing market share, so they sought help from Unity Point Health. Unity Point came to the rescue until now.

Now, they want out.

Many fault past leadership for a series of poor and costly decisions.

I can name a few after serving in somewhat of a minor administrative position for 25 years at Methodist. The only time they listened to me is when they did something dumb, like demolishing apartment buildings without notice on a Sunday morning to the shock of hospital neighbors.

They hid while I was confronted with the complaints. However, the slide began when the late Jim Knoble became CEO and decided to change the board by-laws that required members to be Methodist ministers and/or members of the Methodist Church. Hand-picked members were easier to control over time, in my opinion. The biggest culprit was the government that today is creating the same financial problems at many hospitals and medical centers.

Poor reimbursement and delayed payments have put healthcare facilities on the edge of collapse.

The strong, like OSF Healthcare, will survive. The weak will not unless the government comes to their rescue. Apparently, Methodist, Proctor and Pekin hospitals believe their only choice is to affiliate with Carle if Unity Point says goodbye.

If it happens, look for major administrative changes at the top with the elimination of many six-figure positions. The people who deliver health care and the departments who support them will continue the quality work they have performed for decades.

In closing, I wonder who got what when the Methodist Church lost ownership. The hospital was founded by three Methodist Episcopal Church deaconesses in 1898, among them were Minna K. Riggs and Lucy Hall. Though I wrote the first complete hospital and nursing school history, I don’t remember the name of the third deaconess. The hospital on Bluff Street opened two years later in 1900.

The administrator was minister of the Methodist Church and it was that way for many years. When First Methodist Church lost control, and one would assume ownership of the hospital and its assets, who profited? Who got paid? Was there an exchange of money? Though I carefully read the minutes of board of trustees meetings and the notes of Frank Stewart, former Peoria Journal Transcript reporter and the hospital’s first part-time community relations director, I found no answer to that question. Since the hospital receives taxpayer funds through Medicare and Medicaid and grants, this should be information available to inquiring minds.

The Winner Is

The Christmas season and its wonderful music has come and gone. For the third consecutive year this column awards WCIC-FM as “The Christmas Music Station of the Year.” It’s great music list of traditional and contemporary holiday selections were the very best and they were heard without five to six minutes of commercials every five to six minutes. You heard the true reasons for the season in between a series of songs rather than where to go with a broken sweeper or how to remodel your bathroom.

New Year’s Resolutions

Time was we all made resolutions for the New Year to lose weight or join a health club to get in better shape or do something to improve one’s self. I have a resolution for the city’s new Police Chief. How about deciding to start a campaign to end speeding in the city. We’ve had multiple deaths from speeding on Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Sterling, MacArthur and Knoxville.

It’s not unusual for cars on University and other major streets to hit 50-55 mph.

We’ve had a lot of murders, but we’ve also had a lot of car fatalities.

And here’s one for our local TV stations. How about resolving to doing a better job hiring street reporters? I’ve never seen so many reporters come and go on Channels 31, 19, and 25. Here today and gone tomorrow seems to be a way of life in the TV newsroom. Changes are more frequent than an NFL lineup due to the virus.

Finally, our staff on “Breakfast with Roger and Friends” on FM 90.7 resolves to continue the exclusive coverage of the coronavirus in 2022 with retired physician Dr. Gene Sidler. Since 2016, he reports at least three times a week on the latest virus and ever-changing medical news with exclusive insights and assessments.

Every Thursday and Friday he’s with us for three hours.

Quote of the Month

“Cheers to the people who love us, the losers who lost us, and the lucky ones who still get to meet us.”
— Unknown