Austin Weekly News 090121

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Vol. 35 No. 35

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Masks mandated indoors across Illinois

September 1, 2021

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West Side youth march on Washington, page 2

Police talk tough about crime

During Aug. 23 town hall in Austin, police and politicians faced resident questions about public safety on the West Side

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

Police officers, politicians and other city officials came to Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd., on Aug. 23 to share what they’re doing to reduce crime and violence in the city and take resident questions.

The Community and Police Townhall, which residents could attend in person or via Zoom, was billed as a way to bring the police and the community together. But aside from questions about Shotspotter gunfire tracking technology and the police department’s minority hiring policies, the town hall largely avoided contentious topics, with much of the discussion focusing on familiar crime issues.

Throughout the meeting, the officials emphasized that policing alone wouldn’t reduce crime. Instead, they argued, crime reduction requires social services, mental health support and community involvement.

Police Superintendent David Brown acknowledged “two summers of extreme gun violence,” but he said that the police have been recovering more illegal guns than ever and that the department was “on pace to recover 1,000” illegal guns.

He also touted over 895 carjacking arrests, adding that “the majority of carjacking offenders have been really young people, juveniles, as young as 10 to 12 year sold,” which points to a much larger crisis.

Brown said that CPD engages with you through sports and arts programming, which See PUBLIC SAFETY on page 4

COLIN BOYLE/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO

Loretto Hospital in Austin on Aug. 18. The Illinois Attorney General is investigating the West Side hospital after reports of insider contracts.

Loretto Hospital under investigation Attorney General’s Office investigating the West Side hospital after Block Club Chicago and the Better Government Association disclosed insider contracts

By KELLY BAUER AND DAVID JACKSON

Block Club Chicago and Better Government Association

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office is investigating Loretto Hospital after reports by Block Club Chicago and the Better Government Association revealed millions of dollars in insider contracts and raised questions about oversight by the hospital’s board.

A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to provide details of the probe but issued a statement confirming its existence.

“Our Charitable Trust Bureau request-

ed information about Loretto’s potential misuse of charitable assets,” the spokesperson said in an email response to questions about the inquiry. “As this is an ongoing matter, we cannot provide additional information at this time.”

The probe follows a series of reports

by Block Club and the BGA detailing contracts awarded to a former executive’s friend; hospital-funded Caribbean trips and other benefits for board members, including vice chairman state Sen. Kimberly Lightford; and the hospital’s vaccine distribution scandal.

A spokesperson for Loretto did not im-

mediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, the hospital has defended its business practices and said it was finding new ways to generate revenue and provide high-quality health care.

Any findings of wrongdoing by the attorney general could threaten Loretto’s Illinois nonprofit status, although the attorney general’s office would provide no details on the scope of the inquiry.

Judith Sherwin, a Chicago attorney who has represented health care agencies and nonprofits for four decades, said the See LORETTO on page 5

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

West Siders rally for voting rights

Members of the MAAFA Redemption Project traveled to Washington, D.C. to march and rally around voting

By SUZANNE McBRIDE AustinTalks

Amonta Lewis learned about the challenges voters face in other states when going to the polls.

The 20-year-old Austin resident also learned more about slavery, facts he wished he had been exposed to while back in school.

“We have a lot of successful brothers and sisters,” but we are limited in what we see, Lewis said as he stood near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., Saturday.

He and nine other young men from the West Side were in the nation’s capitol to participate in the national voting rights march and rally. They also visited the National Museum of African American History & Culture and Howard University – a school Lewis is interested in attending.

Attending the rally alongside thousands of others marking the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington was “mind-blowing,” he said. “There were so many passionate people.”

One thought echoing in his mind after hearing the speakers, who included the younger brother of the late Congressman John Lewis: “You need to be involved in, even if you don’t feel like your voice really matters.”

The men – ranging in age from 18 to 26 – drove to D.C. with Rev. Marshall Hatch Jr., executive director of the MAAFA Redemption Project, a faith-based residential institute in West Garfield Park for young men of color.

“This was vital for us to be here,” Hatch Jr. said. “It’s a profound way to commemorate Dr. King’s movement and continue his legacy and work” – and to underscore the importance of voting and Black political power.

The trip was also a chance for some of the men to not have to worry about looking over their shoulder and allows them “to experience a new space.”

Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St John Bible Church, made the trip because he doesn’t want progress on voting rights to be reversed.

“It’s a disgrace that we’re still fighting for voters’ rights,” said Acree, co-chairman of the Leaders Network. “If we don’t use our voices, we have a radical right-wing contingency of the Republican Party that will set us back 60 years.”

David Cherry, president of Leaders Network and head of Chicago’s All Star Project, said although Illinois’ voting laws aren’t under attack, what happens in other states affects Chicagoans. Just look at the last election and what has happened since then.

Photo courtesy of AustinTalks

Rev. Ira Acree, far left, looks on as Rev. Marshall Hatch Jr., the executive director of the MAAFA Redemption Project, and MAAFA participants take in the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington, D.C. “You have elected officials in all of these states who are putting in voter suppression laws that make it harder for Black people and Latinx to vote. The federal government has a responsibility to stop in and say, ‘We’re not going to stand for this.’”

Cherry said his mom, who was born in Alabama, and his father, who was born in South Carolina, never voted in their home states because of voter suppression and intimidation. They didn’t feel safe voting until they lived in New York.

“It was just open terrorism,” he said. “But what is happening today – instead of dogs and water hoses – they’re engaging in voting suppression using a stroke of a pen.”

Acree and Cherry said it’s imperative the U.S. Senate take

up the John Lewis Voter Rights Act, which was narrowly approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We want the federal legislation,” Acree said. “We want to send a message to the Senate, ‘Don’t come home until you pass this legislation.’”

Voting access must be secured for everyone, which will then pave the way for progress on other issues like health care and jobs, Acree said.

“If you don’t have voters rights, you can’t fight for police reform, you can’t fight for pay equity,” he said. “Power is at the polling place. That’s where everybody meets as equals. The vote is the great human equalizer.”

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

West Siders want Chicago Avenue to be more walkable

AUSTIN WEEKLY

During Chicago Department of Transportation meeting held Aug. 24, residents provided feedback on agency’s Invest South/West plans for the corridor

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is developing a plan to improve the portion of Chicago Avenue between Austin Boulevard and Cicero Avenue.

As part of the Invest South/West initiative, the city is looking to revitalize several major commercial corridors throughout the South and West sides. The Chicago Avenue corridor is among the initiative’s top priorities.

City officials are seeking to improve infrastructure and create “safe, walkable, and attractive streets that will foster community and economic growth.” On Aug. 24, CDOT held a virtual community meeting attended by 48 people.

The attendees asked for more parking, while also expressing concerns that bike lanes could slow down traffic. But many of them also welcomed wider sidewalks, saying that they would benefit local businesses, as well as bus stop improvements. As CDOT refines the design, it plans to hold meetings this fall and early next year, with the goal of finalizing the design by the summer of 2022.

Lubka Benak, a CDOT program director, said that the planning for the project began in April 2021. While the city talked to a number of stakeholders, the Aug. 24 meeting marked the first time the planning process was open to the public. The goal is to start construction by the end of 2022, with the earliest segments finished up in 2023 and the later segments finished in 2024. Benak said that the project would cost around $21 million.

She told the attendees that the improvements would include street resurfacing, drainage improvements and curb and gutter restoration. Sidewalks would be widened to give more room for pedestrians.

The agency would also consider adding curb bump-outs, extending the curbs between the street parking and the street crossing to slow down cars at turns and potentially include small community spaces.

In addition, CDOT would consider adding customized garbage cans, benches and bike racks.

Mike Folkening, one of the project consultants, mentioned the possibility of reducing traffic lanes on the section between Menard and Central avenues.

CDOT previously added temporary bus lanes along Chicago Avenue, between Ashland and Laramie avenues. Folkening said that the department and CTA are in discussions about either adding bus lanes further west or removing them altogether.

news

Equity Editor/Ombudsman/Editor Michael Romain Senior Editor Bob Uphues Contributing Reporter Igor Studenkov Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks Columnist Arlene Jones Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Sales & Marketing Representavies Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

GOOGLE MAPS

A stretch of Chicago Avenue, which residents want to see become more pedestrianfriendly.

The department is also looking at adding “boarding islands” between bike lanes and bus lanes that would allow buses to pick up passengers without having to drive up to the sidewalk, speeding up travel. To improve bicycle safety, it would look at adding bike lanes.

The department is also looking at several ways to incorporate corridor and/or community identity into the streetscape, such as adding permanent markings attached to light poles.

“They’re made with some sort of metal and they call attention to the identity of the corridor, whether it’s Chicago Avenue, Austin or the Soul City [corridor],” Benak said.

It would also consider adding larger gateways at one or both ends of the corridor that would serve as the introduction to the neighborhood, similar to what the city already has in Little Village, Fulton Market District, Beverly and Chinatown.

Lesley Roth, the design consultant for the project, said that it’s important for CDOT to build on the plans that are already in place and respect community wishes.

“We realize there have been a number of planning efforts to date and we wanted to really build on those,” she said. “We wanted to get a better understanding from you all about what the Soul City means to you and how it can be represented.”

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), whose ward includes the portion of the corridor east of Central Avenue, said that she personally agreed with attendees who supported more street parking, while also urging attendees

to give some of the proposed improvements a chance.

“I’m excited to see this work coming to the West Side on Chicago Avenue, which is going to make things look a bit different around here,” she said. “And if you don’t like what you see, wait until the projects are finished.”

Several attendees brought up the issue of outreach, saying that many community organizations don’t follow news through social media and may not realize the planning process is happening. Benak said that CDOT passed out and posted fliers along Chicago Avenue ahead of the meeting, which they intend to continue to do going forward.

“We also work with aldermen and various stakeholders to distribute various information,” she added.

CDOT also got questions about involving local businesses. Benak said that they were willing to work with the Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Austin African American Business Networking Association and Special Service Area 72, which includes the east end of the corridor, to make sure corridor businesses are informed and have opportunities to get involved with the projects.

She also said that at least “7.5% of the labor hours must be provided” by workers who live in the nearby zip codes.

For more information about the project and take part in the community survey, visit tinyurl.com/ISWChicagoAve.

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

PUBLIC SAFETY Talking solutions from page 1 the pandemic has hampered. He said that the 2022 city budget will include more funding for those programs.

Deputy Chief Ernest Cato and Brown also touched on the department’s Custom Notification Program, where police officers and social workers visit households where people are judged to be likely to either commit crime or be a victim of crime.

“Often, when we talk about violence and crime, we often get outside the purview of the police,” Brown said.

Deborah Witzburg, the city’s deputy inspector general for public safety, said a recent report by her office found that while Blacks accounted for 37% of police force applicants, only 18% made it through the testing process.

The report also found that there are three stages where Black candidates tend to get dropped: the written exam, the first physical test and the background check.

Witzburg, who is responsible for overseeing the city’s policing bodies, said that her office believes that failing the first physical test should not be grounds for eliminating a candidate from the pool of prospective officers. She said her office also recommended that the city share more information about what the background check entails so that the candidates have a better idea of what to expect.

Norman Kerr, the head of the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, said that his office wants to address generational trauma, as well as provide more support for older residents.

The office funds small nonprofits and works with city departments and agencies on antiviolence and other public safety initiatives.

According to an analysis by the Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety, the police department’s own data “does not support a conclusion that ShotSpotter is an effective tool in developing evidence of gunrelated crime.”

Addressing questions he received from the audience about ShotSpotter’s effectiveness as a gunshot tracking system, Brown said he

Igor Studenkov

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown joined by Ald. Emma Mitts and Rev. Walter Jones at the Aug. 23 policing town hall in Austin. was confident in the technology.

“ShotSpotter has notified us on where the shots were being fired from,” Brown said.

“We have retrieved gun casings. We have seen victims at the scene where ShotSpotter [indicated there were shots], and we’ve made arrests at the locations where ShotSpotter has gone off.”

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), whose ward includes portions of Austin and West Humboldt Park, asked what CPD was doing to protect young people returning to school in person.

Cato and Brown said that, in addition to

the Safe Passages program and school resource officers, they are working with principals to provide support for teens who are experiencing issues such as homelessness.

They are also working with anti-violence groups to reduce gang conflicts.

When asked about how the police would address open-air drug markets, Brown said that it was more of a West Side phenomenon. On the South Side, drug sales tend to take place indoors. The top cop said that his department wants to provide addiction services and support services for people en-

gaged in drug sales, but they would also do enforcement.

Since drug sales are driven by demand from buyers who come from outside of the community, the department also wants to cut the demand off.

“If you’re coming to the West Side to buy drugs, we’re going to tow your car,” Brown said, earning]applause from the majority of the attendees. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

LORETTO

Under scrutiny again from page 1 development represented a blow to Loretto.

“The situation with Loretto is such a shame,” said Sherwin, who is not connected to the hospital or the probe. “It’s a small hospital in an underserved community taking care of poor people. It’s not an institution you want to see having problems like this, having to respond to an investigation of potential misconduct by the people in charge.”

Scandals Bring Scrutiny Loretto, a cash-strapped safety-net hospital, changed leadership in 2018, bringing on current President George Miller and installing Dr. Anosh Ahmed as chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

In recent months, it’s come under scrutiny over a series of scandals.

Ahmed resigned from Loretto in March after Block Club reported ineligible people were vaccinated at places with ties to Ahmed — including people at Trump Tower, where Ahmed lives, as well as a luxury jewelry shop and a high-end Gold Coast steakhouse.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford resigned from the hospital’s board amid the reports, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for an independent investigation into the vaccine misuse.

But questions about the hospital have extended past its vaccines.

Block Club and the BGA reported in April that Ahmed’s friend and business partner, Sameer Suhail, created companies that won contracts worth millions from the hospital.

An investigation in May showed Lightford and others accepted perks and payments from the hospital while serving as board members.

Loretto’s board is responsible for overseeing contracts and financial billings to ensure top vendors aren’t overcharging or charging for services that weren’t provided.

Lightford has been paid by an insurance firm owned by Loretto, which also paid for her to travel to the Caribbean for firm meetings, records show. Loretto paid for those trips, including stays at a luxury hotel, Lightford said. Lightford’s campaign fund also has accepted more than $38,000 in contributions from a key hospital management contractor, records show.

Lightford said in an interview she was not aware of the attorney general’s investigation.

“I don’t know anything about the attorney general’s probe,” she said.

After the stories disclosing Loretto’s contracts with Suhail, Loretto imposed stricter oversight of the hospital’s largest contracts, Lightford said.

“We made sure we put parameters in place,” she said. “Now we have to review every contract that’s over $750,000 as a result of this.”

Lightford said she received $4,800 annually from the hospital’s insurance firm and

had little say in choosing the Caribbean hotel where she and other Loretto board members stayed.

Loretto was forced to create its own offshore insurance firm several years ago when leading U.S. firms wouldn’t service the hospital, Lightford said. Cayman Islands laws require board members to travel to the island to attend board meetings, she said.

“There was nothing wrong with what I did,” she said. “I’ve just been busting my butt to try and keep the hospital open for 20 years. … It hasn’t been easy.’’

The BGA and Block Club also found the board chairman’s law firm billed the hospital for at least $3 million in legal fees over 11 years, although Loretto said his firm worked at a discount.

And the hospital’s compliance officer, who vets all staff and board conflict of interest statements, has private business ties to Loretto’s top attorney, who is tasked with defending the institution against legal claims and government investigations.

Health care ethics experts said it’s not illegal for board trustees to do business with the hospital, but such personal financial entanglements could compromise the board’s independence.

The hospital is also facing questions about the contracts awarded to Suhail.

Soon after Ahmed joined Loretto in 2018, Suhail created three companies that received contracts with Loretto worth nearly $4 million in that first year, Block Club and the BGA first reported in April. One of the contracts was to overhaul the hospital’s billing system and another was to revamp the hospital’s psychiatric unit.

Suhail attorney Joseph Hylak-Reinholtz said Suhail has not been contacted by the attorney general or any government investigators about the contracts. Suhail’s companies have improved care at Loretto and saved the facility millions of dollars, he said.

Suhail and Ahmed severed their business ties in May following the Block Club and BGA reports, Hylak-Reinholtz said.

Ahmed could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 122-bed safety-net hospital serves mainly low-income people and patients of color, records show. It is run as a tax-exempt non-profit corporation, and its $81 million annual budget comes through the taxpayerfinanced Medicaid program, as well as state grants and donations.

Inquiries like this one by the attorney general “are not particularly common,” said David Bea, a Chicago attorney who has represented hundreds of nonprofit clients over the past two decades. “I’ve seldom seen an organization under investigation. It’s pretty rare.”

If the Charitable Trust Bureau does find serious problems, it can impose fines or even revoke a charity’s authority to operate in Illinois and its power to solicit contributions, Bea said. The attorney general’s office also can make a referral to the IRS if they believe a further audit is warranted.

“If there’s criminal activity, they can pursue the individuals,” Bea said.

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

I

The pain-in-the-butt Tree of Heaven

awoke to the sound of numerous trucks idling last week.

Two of them were in the alley, directly behind my garage. The third was blocking the alley at the “T”. The fourth was parked on the next street over. Reading the name on the trucks told me all I needed to know. It was a tree removal service.

I’ve been in my house for 32 years now. During the first five of those years, a number of garages near me mysteriously burned. One fire damaged my garage so badly that I had to put in a claim. That claim reimbursement is what allowed me to have vinyl siding put on my garage, shingles instead of that rolled roofing material installed and replace the swing-out barn doors with an overhead door controlled by an opener.

Over the years, the different people who owned the house across the alley from me ignored the weed plants that grew on the side. The trees’ favorite spot are the narrow spaces on the side of the garage and any tight spot near a fence. I’ve included a picture, because though the majority of us know this tree, it is also called a number of names. I’ve learned the name Milkweed is incorrect. But Weed Tree is appropriate.

And if you’re old enough, it was the perfect tree for granny to get a switch. The actual real name is: Tree of Heaven. It should be more like Tree of Hell!

I sat on my deck, mesmerized by the process as a team of at least 12 men began the process of taking those trees down. In my

estimation, they were at least 50 feet tall. Earlier this year one of the branches had fallen and landed on the neighbor’s garage roof. Although it didn’t do any damage, we could see from the top of it that the thing was slowly dying. And although I assumed it was just one huge tree, as the removal process began, I saw that it was a total of about six trees. Four of the trees had all managed to live in the narrow space on the side of the garage and the fence. The other two had grown on the side of the fence more toward the middle of the backyard.

I haven’t run into the neighbor who owns that property. But based on what I know about tree removal, he had to have spent at least five grand, minimum. Tree removal is not cheap. But had somebody been vigilant when those trees were little seedlings, and addressed the problem immediately, it could have saved a lot of money.

Mr. Rat update: My neverending saga with the city of Chicago’s pests continues.

I think I’m winning. I used quite a bit of the steel netting, to close off the rat hole that was on the alley side. I then used additional netting in between a wood fence and a chain link fence because Mr. Rat had chewed his way through. I even mixed broken glass into the dirt to dissuade him from continuing his freeloading lifestyle under my garage. As of this writing, the dirt on the alley side has not been disturbed. It’s going to take me a couple of weeks in order to declare victory.

ARLENE JONES

Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUEROOMSTREAM.COM

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a news conference Aug. 26 in Chicago, during which he announced a statewide indoor mask mandate effective Monday.

Masks mandated indoors in Illinois

Gov. Pritzker also announces that vaccines will be required for teachers, healthcare workers

By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – The statewide mask mandate indoors is back, and educators and health care professionals will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. JB Pritzker announced last week amid an ongoing surge in the pandemic that first arrived in Illinois in March 2020.

The requirement that people wear masks indoors took effect Aug. 30.

The vaccine requirement, which goes into effect Sept. 5, will apply to “all P-12 teachers and staff, all higher education personnel, all higher education students, and health care workers in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, urgent care facilities and physician’s offices,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago.

“Effective Sept. 5, individuals working in these settings who are unable or unwilling to receive their first dose of vaccine will be required to get tested for COVID-19 at least once a week, and IDPH and (the Illinois State Board of Education) may require more frequent testing in certain situations, like in an outbreak,” he said.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the state is seeing 220 hospital admissions per day, a number on par with a surge in May. Pritzker said 98 percent of cases, 96 percent of hospitalizations and 95 percent of deaths since January have been among unvaccinated people.

While vaccines are the best defense, Ezike said, “wearing a mask continues to be one of the simplest, cheapest ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

Intensive care bed availability in southern

Illinois is at 3 percent, he said.

“That’s because the regions with the lowest vaccination rates are the regions where there are fewer hospitals, and lower hospital capacity,” Pritzker said. “And those hospitals are sometimes the least well equipped to handle cases as they become more acute.”

He added, “We are continuing to rely on experts at the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and (Illinois Department of Public Health), but you don’t need to be an epidemiologist to understand what’s going on here. This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

The current vaccination rates – nearly 53 percent of the state’s population is vaccinated – “are not enough to blunt the ferocity of the delta variant,” which has led to hospitals “again fighting the battle that we had hoped would be behind us by now.”

Republicans, meanwhile, continue to call on the governor to further involve the General Assembly in his COVID-19 response.

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, shared a letter he sent to Pritzker on Monday, noting he got a call from the governor Wednesday night seeking input on a potential response amid the new COVID-19 wave.

But, according to the letter which his office shared with members of the media, Durkin said he received a breaking news brief shortly after the phone call which outlined Pritzker’s planned announcement for the Thursday news conference.

“I will reiterate my plea on our call yesterday to please make your experts available to the General Assembly so that we can examine their data and plans, review the results of your many previous mandates and together plot a course of action that will work,” Durkin said in the letter. “You have the authority to call for a special session of both chambers to address this very critical issue, and I am imploring you to do so immediately.”

Pritzker said he’s “always been available” to GOP leadership and rank-and-file members, and “when the legislature talks to me, I listen.”

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

After lucrative Loretto contract, patient complaints piled up Loretto hospital exec’s friend got $4M in contracts

By DAVID JACKSON AND KELLY BAUER Better Government Association and Block Club Chicago

Gregory Manley feared he would never be released from Loretto Hospital’s psychiatric ward.

The 53-year-old father of two was admitted to the hospital in October 2018, but he said he never saw a psychiatrist and grew desperate to get out.

On his fifth day, Manley opened his thirdfloor hospital room window on a supposedly secure unit and peered down at the limestone window sills and lintels jutting from the red brick walls.

“I used to climb a lot,” recalled the former construction worker, who shimmied up and down metal scaffolds on job sites. “Loretto’s got some big window sills, and I thought, ‘I could scale down.’

“As soon as I stepped to the next windowsill, I lost my footing.”

He plunged to the ground. The world went black.

Mounting problems At the time of Manley’s fall, Loretto Hospital had been under new leadership and had issued at least $4 million in annual contracts to a friend and business partner of the hospital’s new chief financial officer.

Among the changes was an overhaul of the hospital’s billing system and revamping one of its largest sources of Medicaid revenue: the 58-bed, locked psychiatric unit that occupies the entire third floor.

That new psychiatric contract proved central to the care of Manley and other behavioral health patients.

A Block Club Chicago and Better Government Association investigation — analyzing public health inspection reports, police records and lawsuits — shows problems in patient care and safety increased at Loretto following the leadership change in late 2017 and early 2018.

Soon after Loretto brought on current President George Miller and installed Dr. Anosh Ahmed as chief financial officer and chief operating officer, Loretto issued the $4 million in annual contracts to Ahmed’s friend and business partner, Sameer Suhail.

The hospital — which serves low-income patients, many of them Black and Latino — experienced safety breakdowns and violence. In Manley’s case, investigators found a staff member even falsified records to cover mistakes.

In the three years after 2018, federal and state health inspectors increasingly cited the hospital for serious staff shortages that led to patient jeopardy and harm — especially in the psychiatric unit, records show.

Chicago police separately reported an up-

COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago

Exterior of Room 302, where Gregory Manley fell from as he attempted to escape Loretto Hospital. tick of assaults, batteries and violent incidents inside the facility.

And under the new administration, the hospital reported an unprecedented $12 million operating loss in 2019 while the building itself was encumbered by $556,000 in liens from tax authorities and construction contractors.

A Loretto spokeswoman previously told reporters the hospital saw increased revenue and expanded critical health care for the community it serves under the contracts with Suhail’s firms.

But now the hospital is under scrutiny over insider contracts, political ties and Block Club reports about how COVID-19 vaccines intended for the West Side instead went to Trump Tower and people and businesses connected to the hospital’s new leaders.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office confirmed last week it has opened an investigation into Lorreto following the Block Club and BGA reports.

A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to provide details on the scope of the inquiry, saying only that it concerns “potential misuse of charitable assets.”

Suhail and Ahmed severed their business ties in May following Block Club and BGA reports, Suhail’s attorney said.

The hospital’s claims of improved patient care are under question, as well.

Since his ordeal, Manley has filed a lawsuit against Loretto in which he accuses the hospital of medical malpractice. Loretto spokeswoman Darlene Hill said she could not comment on the pending suit but wrote in an email that drug abuse and violence have increased among the population Loretto serves.

“As a result, the hospital has experienced an uptick in violent incidents,” Hill wrote.

“Unfortunately, sometimes whatever our community is experiencing, we experience.

We commit to always being transparent and remaining fully compliant with” the Illinois Department of Health.

Suhail attorney Joseph Hylak-Reinholtz — who previously also represented Loretto and Ahmed — told reporters the contract with Suhail’s psychiatric firm, Metropolitan Behavioral Associates, was not a significant source of profit for Suhail. “I don’t know if that business is breaking even after expenses,” Hylak-Reinholtz said.

“Is it perfect? No. But every day we’re trying to do the best we can to provide [services] to a community that very much needs mental health care,” Hylak-Reinholtz said.

Still, the Metropolitan contract did benefit Loretto financially, he said, increasing the hospital’s daily per-bed Medicaid reimbursement from $450 to more than $600.

Suhail spokesman Dennis Culloton issued a brief statement saying “the case involving Mr. Manley, filed by a medical malpractice law firm, is in litigation, and neither Metropolitan Behavioral Associates nor Dr. Sameer Suhail are a party to the suit.”

A ‘safe setting’ Manley offered a rare eyewitness view inside Loretto during an interview with the BGA and Block Club, which checked his account against government inspection reports and documents released in the pending medical malpractice lawsuit he filed against Loretto last year.

Manley was admitted to Loretto as the new administrative team made sweeping

changes to the hospital’s psychiatric wing.

Suffering from bipolar disorder and crippling bouts of depression, Manley said he had been institutionalized in several Chicago-area mental health treatment centers over the years.

But Loretto “felt more like a prison than a hospital,” Manley said in an interview with his attorney present. “It seems like they’re warehousing patients rather than trying to help them.”

Manley was admitted to Loretto as suicidal, so the hospital’s treatment goal was to provide “a safe setting,” a state inspection report said.

Manley’s lawsuit said he never saw his psychiatrist during his five days at Loretto in October 2018.

Loretto administrators initially told state inspectors staff checked on Manley every 15 minutes to ensure his well-being, records show. However, the hospital’s performance improvement director later conceded to inspectors that a hospital worker had “falsified the 15-minute check documentation.”

Suhail attorney Hylak-Reinholtz said every staff member allowed into the psychiatric ward was thoroughly vetted and staff levels and procedures were “within the law and within the range of what we should be doing from a quality perspective.”

“We make sure they’re adequately qualified to do what they are doing,” he said.

“Would we like more psych doctors on staff ?

Probably so.”

When Manley plunged from Loretto, he fractured his spine and pelvis.

Hospital staff found him with his arms tucked beneath his abdomen. “I just wanted out,” he told first responders, according to a health inspection report.

Government health inspectors investigated Manley’s escape attempt and cited Loretto for failing to ensure his safety.

“I mainly filed the suit to try and help some of the other patients who are in there,” Manley said in his BGA/Block Club interview. “A lot of them, maybe they came from the streets, they don’t have a voice.”

Loretto denied any wrongdoing in court filings in response to Manley’s lawsuit.

Similar denials were issued by Dr. Thodur Ranganathan, who, with Suhail, ran Metropolitan Behavioral Associates, the company contracted to provide psychiatric services at the hospital.

Ranganathan was Manley’s admitting physician and attending psychiatrist at Loretto, lawsuit records show. He filed an affirmative defense alleging Manley caused his own injuries by intentionally prying open the window, failing to follow medical instructions to remain in his room and deceiving staff by not informing them of his desire to escape.

Ranganathan’s attorney declined a request for comment. Ranganathan separately told reporters in a brief email, “I have spent majority of my time in helping clients with

Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021 chronic severe mental illness and worked in safety net facilities including community mental health agencies to provide competent and compassionate care for that population.”

Health citations and arrests State and federal inspectors cited Loretto for 40 health code infractions in the three years after 2018, compared to 15 deficiencies in the previous three years, from 2015 through 2017, a BGA/Block Club review of government records found. It was among the most-cited hospitals in the state in the 2018-2020 time period.

Among the latest citations were four in which government health inspectors cited Loretto for placing patients in “immediate jeopardy,” the most serious infraction.

Hospitals can face decertification from the Medicaid program if these violations are not quickly corrected.

Loretto had no immediate jeopardy citations in the previous three years, government records show.

Two of the immediate jeopardy citations after 2018 came because the hospital failed to ensure sufficient numbers of nurses were staffing critical units, records show. During one 2018 tour of Loretto’s cardiac unit, a government health inspector observed 16 patients on monitors. The nurses’ station was empty and the phone was ringing with no one to answer it.

And more than a year after Manley’s botched escape attempt, inspectors in November 2019 issued an immediate jeopardy citation after Loretto mishandled another distressed patient’s care.

In that case, a 25-year-old man experiencing homelessness walked into Loretto’s emergency room and explained calmly that he was hearing voices telling him to kill himself, according to a nurse’s notes summarized in a government inspection report.

The man sat in the waiting room for three hours, then walked into a bathroom and tried to hang himself, that report stated. His absence wasn’t noted for nearly three more hours, after he called 911 to say he “could not get up and no one can hear him.”

A Loretto nurse opened the bathroom door to find the man sprawled on the floor with shoelaces and a lanyard around his neck and screws missing from the wall where he’d tried to use a bathroom device to hang himself, according to the report.

A second Loretto nurse told inspectors, “These types of patients know what to say to be admitted and he was looking for a place to stay.”

Statewide, the number of deficiencies at all Illinois hospitals ticked up 10 percent over the same six-year period from 2015 through 2020, according to separate data from the Association of Health Care Journalists. But Loretto was one of a small number of hospitals that doubled the number of public health deficiencies, the BGA and Block Club found.

Separately from those government health inspection reports, Chicago police reported 19 alleged assaults at Loretto in the three years after 2018, compared to 12 in the previ-

ous three years, from 2015 through 2017.

And there were 37 police reports of alleged batteries at the hospital since 2018, compared to 27 in the three previous years.

Assault and battery reports at all other Chicago hospitals also ticked up during that period, but at a rate of 28 percent citywide.

The rate at Loretto rose 44 percent.

Separate health inspection reports also show staff allegedly abusing patients. In one instance from last year, a staff member dragged a psychiatric patient into a seclusion room and kicked her legs to force her inside, according to a health inspection report. The patient later complained of a “headache from getting my head slammed into the floor” during the violent encounter.

The Loretto worker was suspended for three days but then assigned to care for the same patient and others on the floor, a report said.

health coverage to Loretto Hospital, which previously was only able to offer 40 hours of services a week,” Culloton wrote in an email.

“Many of these patients suffer conditions that have gone untreated for too long and often present the possibility of harm to themselves or others,” he said. “A fair reporting of other mental health programs through the Chicagoland area and the state would find that to be the case.”

Manley’s lawsuit alleges Ranganthan never saw Manley, even though he was the doctor who admitted him. Ranganathan performed “no initial or subsequent clinical evaluation” and failed to actively participate in or document Manley’s care, Manley’s lawsuit alleges.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges, two advanced practice nurses served as Manley’s designated physicians, while Ranganathan provided little if any supervision or communication.

9

during his stays at other psychiatric facilities. He remembers staff frequently checking in, regular therapy from psychiatrists, and discharge plans to set goals for returning home.

“Loretto’s behavioral health unit doesn’t operate like it is supposed to at all,” Manley said.

Manley said he spent hours in bed staring out the broad, smudged window “I didn’t really do much. They would peek in every once in a while, but I don’t think it was every 15 minutes. I really don’t,” Manley said.

“If they had been giving me proper meds, and having a plan for me and for when I was going to get out, I would have gotten better and gotten out of there. But there was none of that. I was getting progressively worse. I didn’t know what they were going to do to me. I just wanted out of there.”

‘Maybe this is my chance

COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago

Loretto Hospital in Austin on Aug. 18, 2021.

A $980,000 contract for psychiatric care Manley was admitted to Loretto five months after the hospital signed a $980,000-per-year contract for psychiatric services with Metropolitan Behavioral Associates, the company controlled by Suhail and Ranganathan, the Block Club and BGA investigation found.

Ranganathan maintained a busy practice: He was affiliated with at least three other psychiatric facilities, the state website says — although Ranganathan said that information is out of date.

Suhail — Ahmed’s friend and business partner — was Metropolitan’s CEO. According to a copy of the contract obtained by the BGA and Block Club, Suhail was given a $220,000 salary with potential for additional compensation and benefits.

Culloton, Suhail’s spokesman, said Loretto’s psychiatric care improved under the Metropolitan contract. “Metropolitan Behavioral Associates provides 24/7 mental

According to Manley’s lawsuit, the only clinical progress note signed by Ranganathan was Manley’s discharge summary, which made no mention of Manley’s fall and injuries.

“The nurses were the only ones I saw. I don’t know how many times I asked to see a doctor,” Manley told the BGA and Block Club.

As part of the public health review of Manley’s case, state health inspectors cited Loretto for failing to get a separate patient’s consent when administering a powerful mood stabilizer.

Manley recalled one orderly offering him pills. “He came in my room and said they had some medicine for me. I asked what, and he said, ‘Oh, it’s something for your diabetes.’ I said, ‘I don’t have diabetes.’ He said, ‘It’s just something to help you relax.’

“I didn’t take what they were trying to give me.”

Manley said he recalls more effective care

On Manley’s fifth and last day at Loretto, he said, two nurses brought in his new roommate, a 35-year-old diagnosed with severe mental illness, according to government records.

“The first thing he did, he went into the bathroom and came back out completely naked and lay down in his bed and started playing with himself with one hand. With the other hand, he was sucking his thumb,” Manley told the BGA and Block Club.

For the first time, Manley said, he stopped looking out the bedroom window. He started looking at it.

“I never really did look at the window until my last day there,” Manley said.

The screen was fastened with just a few small screws, Manley saw. “I’ve been in the construction trade all my life. They’re called mini screws,” he said.

When Manley pulled the screen toward him, it popped out.

“I thought, ‘Well, sure, that outside window must be locked.’ It was a double-hung window that slid up and down. I tried that window and it opened also. I couldn’t believe it,” Manley said.

“That’s when I decided to leave. I thought, ‘Maybe this is my chance.’”

When hospital staff found Manley lying outside the hospital, they called a “Code Gold,” the alert for a patient escape attempt, government inspection reports show.

Manley said he has flickering memories of a woman running toward him. “She must have been the one who called 911,” he told the BGA and Block Club.

Manley said he was jolted awake as emergency medical technicians bounced his wheeled stretcher across the broken pavement.

“I looked up at the guy, I said, ‘You’re not going to bring me back in there, are you?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re going to Loyola.’

“I go, ‘Oh, thank God.’” BGA intern Julian Gonzalez contributed to this report as a research assistant.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

10

Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Hephzibah Children’s Association Hephzibah Children’s Association is a social service agency in Oak Park, IL with a variety of programs including Residential Group Homes. Our mission is “To help children thrive and families flourish through innovative community-based programs”.

Join our team now and you will be eligible for a signing bonus paid in installments (must be active at time of payout).

Residential Counselor - full time and part time positions - Signing Bonus

Residential Supervisor - full time and part time - Signing Bonus

We are currently seeking candidates to work in our residential Group Homes program. You will provide physically and emotionally nurturing care to children who have trauma histories in a structured therapeutic environment that provides consistency and predictability in a community-based setting.

We have a several part time and full time shifts available including, overnight, mornings, afternoons/evenings and weekend shifts.

Shifts include: • Full time weekdays -4-10 hours shifts: Noon-10:00 pm and every third weekend • Full time overnights - Saturday-Tuesday 9:00pm-7:00 am • Part time weekends - flexible, but includes morning & evening shifts on Saturdays & Sundays • Part time: Friday and Saturday, noon-10pm and Sunday, 7:00am-noon Flexibility to work additional shifts if needed, is desired.

Requirements include: • Bachelor’s degree • Must be at least 21 years old • Experience working with special needs children • Experience writing Medicaid notes a plus • Valid IL drivers license • Sensitivity and responsiveness to the cultural differences in the staff and client populations

We are currently seeking supervisor candidates to work in our residential Group Homes program. You will provide supervision to the staff and physically and emotionally nurturing care to children with trauma history in a structured therapeutic environment that provides consistency and predictability in a community-based setting.

We have a several part time and full time shifts available including, overnight, mornings, afternoons/ evenings and weekend shifts.

Shifts include: • Full time overnight – Wed-Saturday 9:00pm-7:00am • Part time – weekends Friday, Saturday, Sunday days • Part time – various days/times Flexibility to work additional shifts if needed, is desired.

Requirements include: • Bachelor’s degree • Must be at least 21 years old • Supervisory experience • Experience working with special needs children • Experience writing Medicaid notes a plus • Valid IL driver’s license • Sensitivity and responsiveness to the cultural differences in the staff and client populations

Contact MJ Joyce at mjjoyce@hephzibahhome.org Equal Opportunity Employer Hephzibah Children’s Association is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply. We value, advocate for and support an inclusive, respectful, multicultural, environment for employees and the clients we serve.

HIRING BONUS!

Part Time Positions Available for 2021-22 school year After-School Recreation / Day Care Worker Youth Development Specialist

On site at Oak Park public schools The Day Care Program of Hephzibah Children’s Association is accepting applications for nurturing individuals to provide care and supervision of 5-11-year-old children in the After School Day Care program on site at Oak Park public schools. The days and hours are Mon – Fri from 2:30-6:00 PM and 2:00-6:00 PM on Wednesdays.

Plan and supervise arts and crafts, indoor & outdoor play, games, sports, homework help and more.

Requirements include: -previous experience working with children -6 semester hours in education, recreation, social work or related college courses desired Program starts mid-August and runs through the 2021-22 school year.

Contact MJ Joyce at mjjoyce@hephzibahhome.org Equal Opportunity Employer We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all backgrounds to apply

HIRING BONUS!

HEPHZIBAH DAY CARE PROGRAM SITE SUPERVISOR Hephzibah Children’s Association offers after school day care on site at each of the Oak Park elementary schools.

The Day Care Program is accepting applications for a Site Supervisor for the 2021-2022 school year to provide supervision to childcare staff as well as care and supervision of 5-11-year-old children.

Regular days and hours are Monday through Friday from 2:30 - 6:00 PM, Wednesday 1:30 – 6:00 PM. Additional hours on school closing days, in coordination with the school district calendar. May work other hours during school holidays and for staff meetings.

Associate degree in child development or early childhood education, or the equivalent in child development or education desired. Previous experience working with children required.

Program starts mid-August and runs through the school year.

Contact MJ Joyce at: mjjoyce@hephzibahhome.org Equal Opportunity Employer We are an inclusive employer and welcome people from all backgrounds to apply

BUDGET & REVENUE ANALYST The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Budget and Revenue Analyst in the Finance Department. This position will Serve the public with professional administrative and analytical duties in the areas of budget preparation, purchasing, payroll, data analysis and process improvement. Provides, prepares and maintains records, and financial and statistical reports and analysis which assist in the Village’s ability to improve business processes and gain efficiencies through better use of technology. Budget duties include assisting in the development, analysis and application of performance measures with regard to Village services and resources; preparing, modifying, tracking and monitoring Village expenses and transfers; grants, and conducting budget-related research and analysis. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. First review of applications August 27, 2021.

AustinWeeklyNews.com

HELP WANTED PARKING ENFORCMENT OFFICER The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Parking Enforcement Officer in the Police Department Field Services Division. This position will perform a variety of duties and responsibilities involved in the enforcement of Village parking regulations; and to provide general information and assistance to the public. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/.

Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

PART TIME HELP WANTED SPOTLESS CARWASH at 7343 Roosevelt and 7802 Madison St in Forest Park is in need of an attendant. We are looking for someone who likes to be outside and is friendly and likes people.

The duties are to meet and greet customers, make change, sell tokens, automatic and self serve wash instructions, keep the lot, equipment room, and perimeter clean, and empty garbage cans.

Pay is $11.00 per hour. The hours an attendant is on duty are 9 – 11 and 12 – 5 on weekdays, 9 – 11:30 and 12 – 4 on Saturday and Sunday.

If you can fit any of these hours on a part time basis we can work with you.

Please come to 7343 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park to pick up an application. 708-771-2945.

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NOVENAS PRAYER TO ST. JUDE May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved & preserved throughout the world now & forever.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.

St. Jude worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say this prayer 9 times a day for 9 days. By the 8th day your prayer will be answered. It has never been known to fail .Publication must be promised. Thank you Jesus.

Thank You St . Jude. R.B. PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL) Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me, herein you are my mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to suc cor in my necessity (make request).

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Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (3 times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days and publish; your request will be granted. R.B. NEVER FAIL NOVENA May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised, adored and glorified throughout the world, now and for-ever. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in you. Holy Mary Mother of Jesus, pray for me.

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Say this prayer 9 times a day for 9 days .R.B

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Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-6699777.

Austin Weekly News

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11

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12

Austin Weekly News, September 1, 2021

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