In a lawsuit filed in early March, electric utility company ComEd accused an Illinois hospital of owing more than $800,000, according to the Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
ComEd accused the hospital, Waukegan, Ill.-based Vista Medical Center East, of failing to pay $822,321.51 in electric bills. The company requested the court to compel Vista Medical Center East to pay the charge plus interest and court costs, according to the report.
The hospital has been struggling financially for years. In July 2023, Glendale, Calif.-based American Health Systems acquired Vista for $23.5 million and invested $15 million for new equipment. The facility had existing debt when it was acquired. Currently, it has furloughed 69 non-medical employees to reduce overall payroll costs.
Vista Medical Center East is also facing scrutiny regarding patient safety.
In late January, a 28-year-old patient at Vista left her room and was discovered unconscious nearly seven hours later on the hospital’s roof. Staff attempted for 14 hours to resuscitate the patient before she was pronounced dead that night. The Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating the incident. Becker’s has reached out to the American Health Systems for comment on the ComEd lawsuit and will update this article should more information become available.
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