Perry/OSF affiliation agreement draft could be ready by end of year

PRINCETON — The due diligence process regarding an affiliation between Perry Memorial Hospital and OSF Healthcare is coming to an end and a first draft of an agreement could be presented to both parties by the end of the year.

Linda Gustafson, Perry board president, relayed this message at Monday’s regular board meeting. She said both parties have been exchanging old and new information pertaining to finances, operations and internal procedures and the parties continue to assess each other’s strengths.

Gustafson said many opportunities for residents of Princeton and surrounding communities have been “discovered and discussed.”

Jerry Neumann, a Princeton City Council member and liaison to the Perry Memorial Hospital board who has been involved in the ongoing discussions with OSF, commented Monday that “an enormous amount of time” has been spent talking about the employees of Perry during these discussions with OSF.

“I think that it’s wonderful that we do that because we know how valuable they are to us and we want to be sure they are handled properly if and when this transaction takes place,” he said.

However, employees at Perry are feeling a bit uneasy about the affiliation with OSF. It’s actually one of the reasons for a turnover spike at the hospital this fiscal year.

Jim Lewandowski, vice president of human resources, reported Monday that turnover is up 23%. He added that a bunch of reasons were causing the turnover including COVID, the pending change with OSF and change in leadership at the hospital.

Taking a closer look at the turnover, Lewandowski said 40 to 50% of the turnover employees were those who had worked at the hospital less than two years. New HR programs are being implemented to help prevent first-year turnover.

With the due diligence process wrapping up, Gustafson said legal counsel representing OSF and Perry have started drafting a proposed affiliation.

When the draft is completed, the hospital board, representatives of the city of Princeton and OSF will be asked to review the document, discuss the conditions and make modifications, if necessary.

“The agreement will spell out the finalized terms of conditions that both parties have agreed to. A first draft of an agreement could be presented by the end of the calendar year if due diligence is completed,” Gustafson said.

Dr. Rick Cernovich, during his Chief of Staff report on Monday, commented that he hopes discussions revolve around how OSF could help Perry with position recruitment. He commented that Perry has had trouble with 24/7 coverage of gastroenterology and surgical departments. Staff is low and staff doesn’t want to be on call all the time, he said.

In particular, Cernovich said if something is not done to help the surgical department, he doesn’t see a place for surgical services in Princeton and it would be a “big loss” if that was to go away.

“I hope in the discussions you’re talking about how (OSF) can help us with position recruitment. How can you bring your people up here to help staff with what you feel is important so we don’t become a hospital like Streator? I don’t think that’s what we want,” he said.