Former emergency room physicians at St. Margaret's Health-Peru (Ill.) have filed a lawsuit against the now-shuttered hospital, alleging it missed payments for their services.
The plaintiffs, Peru Emergency Physicians, LLP, filed the lawsuit in La Salle County Circuit Court June 20, alleging the hospital owes them $676,245.23. The group signed an agreement to provide emergency room staffing for the hospital in 2008, and say the hospital breached contract by "failing and refusing" to pay for their services, according to the complaint obtained by ShawLocal.
On Jan. 26, the hospital posted to Facebook that Peru Emergency Physicians had ended their relationship, leading it to halt acute care services.
"Our current provider of emergency room physician coverage at St. Margaret's Health – Peru terminated their contract, effective 7 a.m. on Saturday, January 28, 2023," the post said. "At present, we are not able to find, nor financially support, a new ER provider. Furthermore, despite recruitment efforts, we have been unable to attract enough staff to continue to operate both hospitals."
St. Margaret's Health closed June 16 due to financial distress. It had requested emergency funding from the state of Illinois; however, a budget passed without assistance for the hospital after concerns state funds would be used for payroll needs.
No court date has been set.