An Illinois hospital that closed last winter will catch its second wind this spring.
The former St. Margaret's Health-Peru (Ill.) has been purchased by Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare, according to a Jan. 29 news release from the 16-hospital system. It is tentatively scheduled to reopen April 7 as OSF HealthCare Saint Elizabeth Medical Center-Peru.
OSF has planned the opening in two phases. The first will provide limited inpatient beds and emergency services, including diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, EKG and respiratory for those patients. The second will broaden service lines and programs.
"There are still many elements that will need to be finalized before officially opening," according to the news release. "OSF is appreciative of the collaboration between many entities throughout the state of Illinois and within the Illinois Valley."
The original hospital — operated by Fargo, N.D.-based SMP Health — cited multiple reasons for its abrupt closure Jan. 28, 2023: a fizzled contract with its provider of emergency physicians, a cyberattack that interfered with its billing and payment system, and broader financial circumstances. The following March, Spring Valley, Ill.-based St. Margaret's Health revealed that it was considering selling the facility to a larger health system.
OSF has hired more than 450 former employees, physicians and advanced medical providers of St. Margaret's Health to staff the hospital and other recently opened locations. So far this month, the health system has opened new primary care locations in Spring Valley and Oglesby, Ill., and an obstetrics and gynecology medical group in Peru.