IVCH making changes to keep Medicare payments

Yes, Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru could have their Medicare payments stopped. But the hospital is making sure that doesn’t happen.

In a legal notice published today in the NewsTribune, IVCH was told they would lose their Medicare funding August 29^th. However, the hospital has until August 27^th to make changes.

Gene Vogelsang, director of public relations at IVCH, said a surveyor from the Illinois Department of Public Health visited the hospital for five days a few weeks ago and gave IVCH a list of things they needed to change.

As long as IVCH makes those changes by August 27^th, they won’t lose their funding.

Vogelsang said the main complaint from the Department was about surgical sterilization procedures.

IVCH is mailing their response back to the Department of Public Health Saturday so they get it on Monday. Vogelsang said he was confident IVCH would make the changes, and that there would be no interruption of service in Medicare funding at the hospital.

Late night river rescue made in Oglesby

A “three-hour tour” down the Vermillion River turned into a river rescue in the wee hours of the morning.

Oglesby Fire Chief Ron Papurello says five men set out from Lowell on their inner tubes around five late Thursday afternoon. When 10:30 rolled around, a girlfriend became concerned and called the state police. Oglesby Police and River Rescue eventually found the guys on a sand bar near the Buzzi Unicem dam at around two Friday morning. Nobody was hurt or ticketed.

All the men were from the Illinois Valley.

Family of fallen marine trying to build a track in his honor at St. Bede

Thomas Heitmann dreamed of bringing a track to the campus of St. Bede Academy, his alma mater.

Unfortunately, the Marine Captain Heitmann was never able to see his dream come to fruition firsthand, as he tragically died in a military helicopter crash in 2011. Now, his family is picking up where Heitmann left off.

A GoFundMe account has been started by Heitmann’s family to raise the money needed to build a track at St. Bede. So far, almost $2,000 has been raised in just three days.

Heitmann was a 2002 St. Bede graduate and was a star runner on the track and field team. He finished his career with two top-10 finishes at the state meet, was the 2002 NewsTribune Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, and still holds two track records at the Academy.

If you want to donate, click Heitmann Track Fund

Registered sex offender from La Salle facing new sex charges

Do you know who your daughter is running around with? A registered sex offender in La Salle is in trouble for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old girl.

Twenty-four-year-old Patrick Sterba was arrested at his home on two counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse. He’s accused of having sex with the teenage girl on at least two different occasions last month.

Sterba is in the La Salle County Jail. He needs $7,500 to be released.

Two women hurt in crash south of the Route 251 bridge in Peru

What can be done to make the intersection of Route 251 and Ben Samek Road in Peru safer? The troubled intersection was the site of another bad accident late Thursday afternoon.

Twenty-seven-year old Becky Castro of Granville is accused of not yielding and crashing into the car of 43-year-old Kay Roda of Peru. The crash backed up traffic on Route 251 all the way up the hill near the Oglesby spur.

Both Castro and Roda were treated at Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru.