GRANITE CITY, Ill. (First Alert 4) – Gateway Regional Medical Center received an “immediate jeopardy” citation — the highest critical warning a hospital can receive — after federal and state inspectors documented unauthorized ambulance diversions tied to a payroll crisis, according to a state deficiency report completed Aug. 6. One of the diversions involved a patient in cardiac arrest.
The immediate jeopardy began July 31, the same day employees reported bounced paychecks, when Gateway Regional went on ambulance diversion before receiving required approval from the Illinois Department of Public Health(IDPH).
According to the report, EMResource data shows the hospital requested bypass status at 5:02 p.m. IDPH did not approve the diversion until 5:37 p.m. IDPH later denied the hospital’s request to remain on bypass after 7 p.m…