NWH-9-18-2013

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Arkush: Lance Briggs steps up in leadership role

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

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The only daily newspaper published in McHenry Co.

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ospitals aren’t obligated to track the cost of providing unreimbursed care for the millions of uninsured, undocumented immigrants in the United States. And area health care providers would like it to stay that way. By law, hospitals must treat and stabilize anyone who shows up in the emergency room regardless of their citizenship and insurance coverage. The result often leaves the hospital to pick up the tab for the treatment. In the case of undocumented immigrants, patients who require post-hospital treatment might often stay at the hospital weeks and months at a time, since nursing homes and rehab facilities are reluctant to accept the cost of serving those patients. But at Centegra Health System, that is often the cost of doing business as a community health care provider. It also is an issue that applies to every patient who is uninsured or underinsured, said Astrid Larsen, director of care coordination at Centegra. “It’s increasingly becoming more difficult to

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IMMIGRANT CARE COSTS ON THE RISE But area hospitals committed to helping all patients

Story by STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO • sdibenedetto@ shawmedia.com

get patients placed when they are uninsured, but not necessarily because of their immigration status,” Larsen said. “It’s pretty much across the board.” Larsen’s department is tasked with putting together discharge plans for patients who received treatment at Centegra’s hospitals. Her case managers encounter daily challenges with putting together plans for uninsured and underinsured patients often because their resources are tighter and their health issues are complex. Immigrants often don’t have health insurance coverage. More than 13.5 million foreign-born residents in the United States have no health insurance. Of that total, 10.5 million don’t have citizenship, according to Pew Research’s Hispanic Trends Project. The unreimbursed cost of providing that care for all uninsured or underinsured patients totaled a record-high $41.1 billion in 2011, according to data from the American Hospital Association.

See CARE COSTS, page A6

LOCALLY SPEAKING

Bond set in murder case More details emerge about fatal stabbing in Woodstock WOODSTOCK – Bond was set at $2.5 million for the man accused of killing his stepson, as more details emerged about a domestic dispute that turned deadly. Victor M. Lopez appeared in McHenry County rights court Tuesday morning, charged with first-degree murder. Judge Robert Wilbrandt set his bond and appointed a public defender. Authorities have said the 46-year-old man stabbed and killed Mark A. Medina after a domestic dispute Saturday. Medina, 34, died from multiple stab wounds, according to the McHenry County Coroner’s Office. Woodstock police charged Lopez on Monday after he was released from the hospital where he was being treated for facial injuries – including two black eyes – he suffered during the incident. The dispute reportedly

Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com

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The Advantage Group declines $49K payment By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – Two of the three items on a contentious McHenry County Mental Health Board agenda – firing the longtime board attorney and forwarding money to an agency flagged in an audit – were taken care of during public comment. Attorney Frank Gosser resigned before the board could end their relationship, and The Advantage Group turned down a $49,000 payment the board was set Tuesday morning to authorize. That left one agenda item for the board to tackle – hiring interim legal

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See STABBING, page A6

representation until bidding is done for a permanent replacement. Gosser submitted his resignation after making a statement defending his record of representing the board. Board President Robert Routzahn said last week that Gosser “had lost the confidence and trust of the board” – five of the board’s seven current members have been seated within the past year. Gosser has not returned calls for comment for recent stories regarding the Mental Health Board. “Obviously, Frank knew what we intended to do, and he decided to resign on his own terms and make a final statement, which was fine,” Routzahn said. Critics have alleged the Mental Health Board has become a staff-heavy bureaucracy that spends too much on

See ATTORNEY, page A6

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started over a family “misunderstanding.” Medina and his family accused Lopez of leaving Medina’s ailing mother, Woodstock Detective Sgt. Jeff Parsons said. Lopez reportedly left Woodstock in January and recently returned. Medina was his mother’s primary caregiver. Just before 5 p.m. Saturday, police were called to Medina’s residence at 1978 Sheila St., where he was found with stab wounds to the chest. Lopez lived in a different part of the duplex home, at 1980 Sheila St. Police said a fight broke out after Medina was stabbed. “I believe there was an

Longtime attorney quits Health Board

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Victor M. Lopez, 46, of Woodstock, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mark A. Medina.

By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com

A former Woodstock woman who drove the getaway car last year in a fatal drug deal gone awry is accused of killing a Wisconsin man in a drunken driving crash. Hanna M. Schacht, 23, is charged with homicide by drunken driving after a crash killed Daniel Wetzel of Lanark, Wis. For more, see page B1.

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