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Centegra Physician Care doctors drop nonvaccinated kids
Photos by H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Hildreth (left) and Air-One Emergency Response Coalition crew member Michael Wienke discuss the search for Roger T. Little, who was last seen Monday afternoon in his McHenry-area neighborhood near the Fox River.
By CAITLIN SWIECA cswieca@shawmedia.com
and ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com As part of a new policy effective Tuesday, Centegra Physician Care will treat only children who are vaccinated according to the schedule developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health system announced. Patients 17 years old and younger will be required to receive the recommended vaccinations to continue care, a Centegra news release said. Centegra expects children not up to date on vaccinations to begin the catch-up process at their next office visit. Those who do not comply with the vaccination schedule will be released from the company’s practice, the release said. However, pediatrician Pasquale Bernardi, who also is the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Centegra Physician Care, stressed the policy does not apply to the emergency department. “The ER is not impacted by this,” Bernardi said. “We will see any child that comes into the ER. This is for our outpatient practices.” Bernardi said most, if not all, practitioners have started to have conversations with patients about the policy. Patients are being informed of the policy, and practitioners explain a plan can be developed to get children caught up. The new practice, Bernardi said, is mostly geared toward those who actively are choosing not to vaccinate their children. Those people, he said, will need to find a different avenue of care. Dr. Laura Bianconi, medical director of Centegra Physician Care pediatrics, said in the release the decision is based on “overwhelming evidence” vaccines are effective in saving lives and preventing the spread of serious illness. “Over the years, we have done our best to accommodate families who chose not to follow the scientifically established vaccination schedules,” Bianconi said in the release. “Recent outbreaks of diseases preventable by vaccines have caused us to re-evaluate our position regarding exposing infants and other vulnerable children in our
A Shorewood Drive resident watches as crews from the McHenry Township Fire Protection District use sonar Tuesday morning to search the Fox River for a mentally challenged elderly man who was last seen Monday afternoon in his McHenry-area neighborhood near the Fox River.
Deceased matches description of missing McHenry-area man By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com McHENRY – A body matching the description of a mentally challenged elderly man reported missing Monday was found Tuesday along the Fox River after an eight-hour search, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. A helicopter from Air-One Emergency Response Coalition, conducting a sweep south of Route 120, observed what appeared to be a body in the river at the end of a private pier, a sheriff’s office news release said. Deputies went to the site in
the 500 block of Mineral Springs Drive in unincorporated McHenry, where they found the body. Roger T. Little, 69, was reported missing by a family member after he last was seen near the intersection of North Villa Lane and Washington Park at 3 p.m. Monday, McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Aimee Knop said. “We do believe the body is [that of] Roger Little,” Knop said, adding the family has been notified. The body was found dressed in clothing that had been described to police the night before, authorities said. There were no preliminary in-
dications of foul play, but investigators said the investigation is ongoing with the McHenry County Coroner’s Office. After scouring the area for hours Monday night, sheriff’s officials asked the McHenry Township Fire Protection District to deploy a sonar team about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in an area of the Fox River in Johnsburg just north of Little’s home. Fire officials pulled a MABAS Box alarm for sonar technicians from across Lake and McHenry counties, Battalion Chief David Harwood said. Harwood said the fire district left about 10:50 a.m. after its search did not find anything.
Knop said Little was located about 12:30 p.m. Police were asking for the public’s help in locating Little, who was described as white, 6-feet tall and 180 pounds with gray hair that is neck length, and possibly wearing slippers. On the dead-end street where Little lives, in the 2800 block of North Villa Lane, sheriff’s police searched home by home. Bo, the sheriff’s office’s bloodhound, also was used during the search. His howls could be heard through the neighborhood as were calls of “Roger” from some
See SEARCH, page A5 See VACCINES, page A6
CL man with Down syndrome accused of striking caregiver Developmentally disabled man jailed for 8 days before attorney secures release By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The attorney for a man with developmental disabilities and the mental capacity of a 4-year-old is outraged that his client spent eight days in jail amid a system that, they say, had failed him every step of the way. Crystal Lake police arrested
44-year-old Anthony V. Punzio, a resident of a Pioneer Center-run group home, Nov. 23 and charged him with misdemeanor domestic battery. Punzio, who has Down syndrome, is accused of striking his medical caregiver in the face and stomach, causing swelling to the man’s face, according to the criminal complaint. Punzio was booked in the McHenry County Jail just before 9 p.m. Nov.
23. He was released at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday to the custody of his guardians. Attorneys from both sides, as well as the McHenry County judge presiding over his case, agreed Punzio shouldn’t be in jail, but for more than a week, there was no place for him. Anthony “ F o r w h a t e v e r V. Punzio reason, the people who can think for themselves and know the difference between right and wrong are the ones putting my
client in a horrible situation,” said public defender Mark Cook in an interview Monday with the Northwest Herald. “I understand that the mental health agencies – just like all public agencies, my office included – have limited resources, but jailing a developmentally disabled person with the mental capacity of a 4-yearold child is never acceptable.” McHenry County Judge Charles Weech on Nov. 25 signed an order that would release Punzio on his own recognizance, but only on the condition his legal guardians – his sister, Nancy Punzio, and brother,
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George Punzio – come get him. They did so Tuesday afternoon. Cook said Pioneer Center won’t take him back, and it’s unclear at this point where he is going. Because his guardians wouldn’t immediately retrieve their brother, Punzio’s attorneys are working with Options and Advocacy of McHenry County to get him into a new group home. While in the McHenry County Jail, Punzio was not housed with other inmates, but instead was in a single cell in the booking area.
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