St. Clare’s Hospital in Alton
(Photo courtesy of OSF Healthcare System)

St. Clare’s Hospital closing

The Peoria-based OSF Healthcare System on March 9 announced plans to consolidate its facilities in the Alton area; expanding Saint Anthony’s Hospital and closing St. Clare’s Hospital.

The expansion at Saint Anthony’s will include construction of a new cancer center as well as renovation of the emergency room and intensive care unit, according to the company.

Psychological care, outpatient therapies, a sleep lab, diabetes services, and home care offices, now located at St. Clare’s, will be moved from Saint Clare’s to Saint Anthony’s.

OSF Healthcare plans to discontinue the in-patient rehabilitation services, inpatient skilled nursing, adult day services and outpatient wound care services, currently located at Saint Clare, by the end of the year.

The company plans to continue to operate the Saint Clare’s Villa retirement community until a buyer is found for the facility.

In conjunction with the consolidation, OSF Health Care plans to expand its network of primary care physicians and add new primary care sites around the area.

Consolidation of the two hospitals will result in a gradual reduction of jobs in some departments, according to OSF.

In a prepared statement, Ajay Pathak, president and CEO of both Saint Anthony’s and St. Clare, said OSF will seek input from area civic and business leaders to determine the best future use of the Saint Clare’s campus.

Prenzler alleges assault, data destruction

Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler believes former County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan and former County Administrator Joseph Parente may have improperly deleted data from their county computers and is asking State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons to investigate.

In a news release, Prenzler’s office says County Information Director Rob Dorman, attempting to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request, found “Mr. Dunstan’s computer had little profile data and Mr. Parente’s hard drive was completely blank.”  

“The destroyed information includes county documents that were subject to retention under state law and court order,” Chairman Prenzler wrote to the state’s attorney in his March 15 request.

According to the news release, Madison County employees, before leaving their positions with the county, must copy all information stored on the hard drives of their computers and place it on the county server.  

Chairman Prenzler defeated Dunstan in the Nov. 4 general election.  Parente left his long-time position with the county as administrations changed.

According to the press release, Prenzler presented a notice of record preservation to Parente on Nov. 15.

According to the press release, Dorman had been attempting to properly retain data on two county computers that had been marked “FBI” and were believed to have contained information used in the prosecution of former county treasurer Fred Bathon.  Bathon was convicted in 2013 of rigging bids at county tax auctions.  

The request to the state’s attorney came four days after Prenzler, according to another press release, was allegedly assaulted at a church picnic in the town of Madison.

According to that press release, Prenzler was verbally threatened by a trio of men at the March 11 picnic and was “pushed and shoved” by two of them.

Prenzler says one of the men had worked for Bathon during his tenure as county treasurer.

Before being elected county board chairman, Prenzler was county treasurer and reportedly provided evidence which was used in the bid rigging case against Bathon.

Madison Police are investigating the assault allegation.

Elmore to seek State House seat

With the slogan “Let’s Make Illinois Great Again,” Monroe County Board Chairman Bob Elmore of Waterloo on March 7 announced that he plans to run in 2018 for the 116th District seat in Illinois House of Representatives.

Elmore, a Republican, is a retired businessman residing in Waterloo, The 79-year-old worked for a media company in Springfield before retiring to Waterloo in 2008 and entering politics.

The 116th District is currently is represented by Rep. Jerry Costello II, a Democrat from Smithton, who hails from one of Metro-East’s most prominent political families. He is the son of long-time U.S. Congressman and former St. Clair County Board Chair Jerry.  

Appointed to the 116^th District seat in 2011, Costello was re-elected in 2012, 2014 and 2016; with no opposition in 2014 and 2016.

The district includes Waterloo, Red Bud and Sparta.

Maschhoff named Pork Council president

Ken Maschhoff of Carlyle was elected a new president of the National Pork Producers Council during the trade organization’s annual meeting this month in Atlanta. He is chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and the co-owner and chairman of The Maschhoffs, the largest family-owned pork production company in North America.

A fifth-generation pork producer, Maschhoff formerly served on the Illinois Pork Producers Association board of directors, as well as on the boards of Midland States Bank and Midland States Bancorp Inc. He currently serves on the boards of Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School in Carlyle, Potter Electric and First Light USA.

MCT plans services changes

Madison County Transit (MCT) is seeking public comment on proposed service changes in Alton, Highland and Troy. In Alton, MCT plans to adjust routes to serve the city’s new high speed rail station and improve connectivity to Lewis and Clark Community College. MCT also plans to reduce service in one segment between Highland and Troy as well as re-route shuttle service in Highland. If approved, the changes would take effect in August.

A summary of the proposed changes along with maps and schedules is available online at www.mct.org. Comments can be e-mailed to info@mct.org or sent to: Madison County Transit, c/o August Service Change, 1 Transit Way, P.O. Box 7500, Granite City, IL 62040. Comments must be received by 5 p.m., Friday, March 24.

–Metro-East Area News Briefs–