Potential buyer for St. Margaret’s Hospital in Spring Valley says no

Oct 05, 2023

Mayor Melanie Malooley-Thompson on Monday night informed the Spring Valley City Council that a business showing interest in taking over for St. Margaret's Hospital has decided against it.

The mayor said she had spoken to and met with the CEO of the Carle Clinic, which recently acquired Methodist Hospital in Peoria, about also acquiring the Spring Valley hospital, but after a visit and review of the property decided it "didn't meet their criteria at this time."

St. Margaret's is slated to shut down operations on June 16.

"Unfortunately for now, it is a no from them … and everything seems to say that there will be a June 16 shutdown."

Thompson, who estimates the shutdown will immediately affect about 42,000 people in the Illinois Valley, said the company may revisit the possibility in the future and she will continue to solicit other options and assistance from legislators. However, "unfortunately for now, it is a no from them … and everything seems to say that there will be a June 16 shutdown."

Thompson said a hospital has expressed interest in having an intensive care unit there.

"But there are no other suitors that I’m aware of, so this is very disappointing," Thompson said. "I drove by this morning and there were over 100 cars in the parking lot and it's unsettling to think that in a couple weeks, there may be no one there.

"I’m continuing to be fed little pieces of information, so right now, we’re waiting for all the cards to fall. In the meantime, we’ll continue to work diligently to find other options to go into the hospital building … My children were born there as were so many others and with all the history there, it's disheartening, to say the least."

Thompson added that the 10/33 Ambulance Service has been accepted into the OSF Healthcare system in Ottawa. OSF recently signed a letter of intent to buy the former Peru hospital.

In other action, the council:

Offered congratulations to the St. Bede Academy on winning the IHSA Class 1A softball state championship last Saturday.

Approved a request from Darryl Stuggis to conduct a Juneteenth celebration event from 1 to 8 p.m. at Kirby Park on Monday, June 19. Stuggis, who said that a "stop the violence" theme will highlight the abolishment of slavery commemoration, said he hopes to conduct basketball and softball tournaments, have several featured speakers and will now begin recruiting vendors to supply refreshments.

Approved the request of The Lockerroom's new owner, Mike Balma, for a pair of $7,500 store facade grants for both 123 and 125 E. St. Paul St.

Approved an expenditure of $13,467 for the repair of a pump at the city's water treatment facility.

Discussed working with John F. Kennedy Junior High on having softball diamonds constructed on some property adjacent to the school.

Discussed at length a report from Alderman Ken Bogacz regarding the renovation and repair of the city's 111 alleyways. Bogacz performed an evaluation of each entrance to the alley and the alley itself, giving it score based on the urgency of need of repair. The topic was tabled for later discussion.