McHenry County Blog

Zane Seipler

One might have thought the campaign ended with the Republican primary victory of McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren over Zane Seipler, the deputy Nygren never wants to see in the Sheriff’s Department again.

But Seipler’s blog, McHenry County Sheriff’s Department Exposed, continues to taunt the Sheriff. His most recent post tells of his father Russell Seipler was an NTSB investigator of the devastating Fox River Grove school bus-Metra train crash in the mid-1990′s. (My brother-in-law Dr. Joe Giangrasso was in Good Shepherd’s Emergency Room when the kids were brought in and my wife was chasing reporters out of hospital bathrooms, where at least one was hiding.)

Five-pointed star can be seen on McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren's chest in this photo used on a spring campaign mailing.

Seipler’s civil suit continues in the deposition stage, as one can glean from reading between the lines on MCSDExposed.blogspot.com.

Seipler has hired an attorney to elaborate on his pro se filing prior to primary election day.

The first allegations read as follows:

“Elected Official Sheriff Nygren has abused his position and continues to violate the law. An emblem of the Sheriff’s department which Sheriff Nygren was supposed to use for the limited purpose of securing his election is now being used publicly by McHenry County. To this end, tax payer dollars are being used to further Sheriff Nygren’s political goals.

“Additionally, Sheriff Nygren failed to report or investigate the illegal conduct by Deputy Michael Cooper, as should be in line with his duties under the General Orders of McHenry County. Given the importance of maintaining the integrity of the State’s Attorney’s office and the significance of these crimes, it is vital for an independent prosecutor to be appointed to investigate these matters.”

McHenry County Sheriff's Department Crime Safety Trailer in Crystal Lake's Independence Day Parade had a seven-pointed star.

It continues,

“Sheriff Nygren is involved in criminal conduct in the following two ways:

1. the illegal usage of the Sheriff’s campaign logo on multiple pieces of government property; and
2. the failure to investigate known criminal activity by Deputy Michael J. Cooper as related to the State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi investigation.”

The legal filing points out that the Sheriff’s Department has a five-pointed star “used on County documentation and can be seen on an emblem…worn by deputies.”

The seven-pointed star on Sheriff Keith Nygren's campaign convertible.

There is also a seven-pointed star, it continues, that was created by Nygren for campaign purposes.

Another photo from the 4th of July Parade in Crystal Lake shows a seven-pointed star on a snow mobile trailer.

“Without sanction, Sheriff’s Nygren created a campaign logo for political reasons and then illegally continued to use a political logo instead of the official logo on County property,” Seipler charges.

The question is whether the person charged with official misconduct manipulated his public office or employment in order to perform a proscribed act. Id.

“Clearly, Sheriff Nygren exploited his position as the Sheriff by using bus personal political logo on state property to market himself and his campaign.”

There is a seven-pointed star on the back of the prisoner bus.

Six examples are offered as evidence relating to documents, as I read the legal document.

In addition, Seipler offers nine more examples on “buses, cars, envelope openers, motorcycles and even tanks.”

Such use violates these state laws, the filing continues:

• Official Misconduct, 720 ILCS 5/33-3(b) and (c) and
• Prohibited Political activities, 5 ILCS 430/5-15(a) and (b)

“Clearly, Sheriff Nygren exploited his position as the Sheriff by using bus [his?] personal political logo on state property to market himself and his campaign.

“Additionally, he used the services of the state and therefore used taxpayer dollars for the installation of these logo – patently abusing his power as a public official,”

During the welcoming ceremony before the tour of the McHenry County Jail by visiting Chinese political leaders, I took this photo near the front door of the main entrance. I see there is a seven-pointed star on the wall between "McHenry County" and "Sheriff."

Seipler’s brief charges.

McHenry County Sheriff stands behind a podium with a seven-pointed star at what appears to be an official function. The banner behind him has two seven-pointed stars.

“The question is whether the person charged with official misconduct manipulated his public office or employment in order to perform a proscribed act. Id. Clearly, Sheriff Nygren exploited his position as the Sheriff by using bus personal political logo on state property to market himself and his campaign.”

Next comes the part about Deputy Michael Cooper and his involvement with Amy Dalby is addressed.

“Dalby gave the USB key drive (from McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s office) to Michael J. Cooper, Sheriff Keith Nygren’s deputy and security guard. Deputy Cooper kept the USB key drive with the illegally obtained information in a safety deposit box. He never reported this illegally obtained material to the State Police or any other law enforcement authority.”

A Keith Nygren golf outing fund raising silent auction sheet with a seven-pointed star. State Rep. Jack Franks donates a "Page for a Day" and Dan Regna bids on it. (Click to enlarge.)

Nygren’s lack of investigation of this activity, which Seipler’s brief contends violated the law,

“include, but are not limited to:

(a) Illegal actions;
(b) Dereliction of duty
(c ) Malfeasance
(d) Misfeasance
(e) Conduct that may publicly discredit the Sheriff’s Office.”

The conclusion offered follows:

“Sheriff Nygren failed to report and/or investigate Deputy Michael Cooper’s conduct. While it is not clear if Nygren failed to report the deputy because of his relationship with Dan Regna, it is clear that Michael Cooper’s conduct was illegal and Nygren had a duty to investigate it.”

Next the appointment of a special prosecutor is requested.

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren posed in his office with Dan Regna, the GOP primary candidate for State's Attorney he supported against incumbent Lou Bianchi. Regna succeeded in getting Associate Judge Gordon Graham to appoint a special prosecutor to probe Bianchi's alleged use of county resources to advance his political campaign.

Although there seems to be little love lost between McHenry County two chief law enforcement officers, State’s Attorney Bianchi has been representing Nygren, as the law proscribes

If that request for a special prosecutor is granted by Associate Judge Thomas A. Meyer, both Bianchi and Nygren would be facing special prosecutors.

Nygren ally Dan Regna, Bianchi’s Republican primary opponent two years ago, successfully sought a special investigator to probe Bianchi’s alleged political use of his office. Judge Gordon Graham is the associate judge that ruled in Regna’s favor.

Since then, Independent judicial candidate Sally Wiggins has filed to oppose Graham Republican candidacy in the fall election.

Nygren is being opposed by Democrat Mike Mahon and Green Gus Philpott.

The next court date is August 12th at 10 AM.

At the intersection of Routes 31 and 176, two health care systems have dueling billboards.

I noticed the one on Route 176 first. It faces east, so commuters returning to Crystal Lake can read it.

It’s advertising Advocate Good Shepherd’s new intermediate care facility across from the new Metra Pingree Grove station.

It says,

is on the the left hand side beneath the big print.

On the right hand side is

Unfortunately, it gives folks no idea where in Crystal Lake.

On Route 31 facing north where people traveling from McHenry can see it, if they look behind the Citgo station, is a similar message from Centegra.

It says,

Below, on the left hand side, is

Crystal Lake
Behind
Dominick’s

On the right hand side of the bottom of the billboard is

Good Shepherd’s message about ER docs is presumably what differentiates its service from Centegra’s.

The doctors staffing that office from 8-8 each day of the week are all Board Certified Emergency Care physicians.

But, there’s no way anyone could figure out where it is located from the billboard.

The Centegra billboard’s message, on the other hand, directs anyone interested to locations which are easy to find.

= = = = =
My brother-in-law, Dr. Joseph Giangrasso, heads up Good Shepherd’s emergency room operation.

The idea of a wrist radio transmitter to help find missing people will become a reality starting April 2nd.

Soon-to-be elected (because she is unopposed) Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore re-surfaced the concept last year. Her Huntley precinct contains much of Sun City.

Twenty minutes is the average time it takes to find a lost relative using the system, which the head of Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department, Dr. Joe Giangrasso likens to a LoJack system for people.

Sponsored by Advocate’s Good Shepherd Hospital, the program was announced at the grand opening of the new Crystal Lake intermediate care facility across from the Pingree Road Metra Station. It is staffed by a Board Certified Emergency Care doctor each day from 8 to 8.

The wrist radios will allow the tracking of those with Alzheimer’s, Down’s Syndrome or Autism who are prone to wander.

Upon notification of the police in Huntley and Crystal Lake, or McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren in the rest of McHenry County, the search begins.

Here is the Good Shepherd press release:

Care Trak safety net technology for McHenry County’s Autistic, Alzheimer’s residents launches April 2nd

(Crystal Lake, IL) Care Trak®, an advanced wireless tracking technology that serves as a safety net for families and caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s, Autism and Down’s Syndrome, will roll out at a special launch event on Thursday, April 2nd. The event will be held 11:00am at the McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake.

Members of the media and interested residents are encouraged to attend. Intake professionals from the Family Alliance will be on hand to enroll family members and the Crystal Lake police and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office may be able to provide a real-time demonstration of the technology.

Last fall, a coalition of law enforcement, health care and social service agencies announced that three separate Care Trak® systems would be deployed, operational and ready to serve McHenry County residents in early 2009.

All three systems – one in Crystal Lake, another in Huntley, and a third as a county-wide system to be managed and operated by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office – were funded entirely by Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington.

The majority of patients Good Shepherd cares for are McHenry County residents.

Each participant in the program is required only to pay a one-time rental fee for a tracking bracelet and a modest monthly maintenance fee.

What is Care Trak®?

The technology employs unique radio transmitter devices that are secured on a person’s wrist or ankle, and enables law enforcement to pinpoint the precise location of an individual who may have wandered from their home or place of care. Individuals with Autism, Down’s or forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s, are prone to wander off or become disoriented.

Only law enforcement agencies are authorized to operate these systems, and specific criteria is in place for an individual to qualify being covered using the technology:

• The individual must be clinically diagnosed with Autism, Down’s syndrome or a form of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s;
• They must have a full-time caregiver, either by a family member or clinical professional;
• The person has demonstrated being prone to wander off.

Other contributors

In addition to Good Shepherd, law enforcement partners and Family Alliance providing professionals to screen and enroll residents, other key organizations have joined the effort to bring this to their communities, including:

• McHenry County Mental Health Board
• McHenry Autism Group
• Talk About Curing Autism
• Autumn Leaves, a memory care facility in Huntley
• Bickford, a memory care facility set to open soon in Crystal Lake
• Crystal Lake Dawn Breakers Club of Rotary International

About Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois is an acute care medical facility with approximately physicians representing 50 medical specialties. It is part of Advocate Health Care, the largest, health care delivery system in Illinois, which in 2007 provided $344 million in community benefit, charity care and services for Chicago area residents. For more about Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, click on the link.

About Family Alliance

Family Alliance, Inc.’s mission is to enable seniors to remain at home by providing best-of-practice day programming, advocacy and counseling, while supplying respite, education, training and support to their caregivers. A not-for-profit, comprehensive geriatric health facility serving seniors and their caregivers Family Alliance’s programs help mentally and physically frail elderly to remain at home and in the care of loved ones, avoiding premature placement in nursing homes. Family Alliance’s services are not duplicated by another McHenry County agency, and remains the only adult day health care service in McHenry County. For more about Family Alliance, click on the link

= = = = =
McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren can be seen showing Linda Moore a wanted posted for Edward Sylvio Demers, who walked away from his home in Johnsburg on October 13, 2003. He has not been seen since.

Because my brother-in-law Dr. Joe Giangrasso (seen above with Dr. Liz Horvath) heads up the Emergency Room operation at Good Shepherd Hospital, I got advance notice last summer of his department’s new facility in Crystal Lake across from Metra’s Pingree Road Station.

It features Board Certified Emergency Care physicians on duty from 8 AM to 8 PM seven days a week. I figure there’s no need to drive out of town for most minor emergencies. And, no need to pay emergency room prices for an ER doctor’s care.

The following press release popped into my in box Friday. At the bottom is a fact I was not aware of–

more than half of Good Shepherd Hospital’s patients are from McHenry County.

City of Crystal Lake
Honors
Advocate Good Shepherd

The Economic Development Committee of the City of Crystal Lake is honoring Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital for the three-story facility it opened in the community last September.

The committee announced Friday that it would present its 2008 Community Investment Award to Good Shepherd administrators at 4:30 pm, Wednesday, March 25th in the lobby of their new 72,000-square foot building at 525 Congress Parkway, Crystal Lake.

The Outpatient & Immediate Care Center is also home to comprehensive imaging services, its own clinical lab, and primary care and specialty physicians.

Kathy Lapacek, vice president of business development at Good Shepherd said,

“This is a great honor for Advocate, and I think it reaffirms how seriously we take our commitment to meeting the healthcare needs of the Crystal Lake community.”

She elaborated,

“Certainly the building itself is beautiful and represents a significant investment, but we’re also very proud of our partnership with the talented doctors that provide care for area residents at our immediate care center.”

The center is the only one of its kind in McHenry County to be staffed 100 percent by board-certified emergency medicine physicians (ER doctors.)

About Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital:

Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois is an acute care medical facility with almost 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties. For 30 years, Good Shepherd has served its communities by providing quality, compassionate care. It is part of Advocate Health Care, one of the top ten health care systems in the country and the largest health care delivery system in Illinois, which provided $344 million in community benefit and charity care in 2007.

Slightly more than half of all Good Shepherd patients are McHenry County residents. It is a leader in delivering some of the most advanced technologies and techniques to the northwest suburbs. Its comprehensive cardiac care center was named #1 in the State of Illinois for overall cardiac care and cardiology by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading hospital quality ratings organization.

Here’s more about Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

= = = = =
Radiologic Techologist Mike Heft proudly showed me the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine above.

Maybe the following press release from McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren will give the Northwest Herald to publicize what I likened to a Dick Tracy wrist radio device to help police find missing Alzheimer and Autistic residents in my story on Saturday. It is complete with pictures and explains how Sun City Republican Precinct Committeeman Linda Moore started asking the questions this year that led to the program.

That’s the day Good Shepherd Hospital announced it has donated $15,000 for equipment and training for the Crystal Lake and Huntley Police Departments, plus the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

With the NW Herald being the dominant deliverer of local news in McHenry County, it certainly should run an article to alert those with potentially wondering children and older relatives, that this service will soon be available.

Twenty minutes is the average time it takes to find a lost relative using the system, which the head of Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department, Dr. Joe Giangrasso likens to a LoJack system for people.

Good Shepherd announced the new system at the grand opening of its new Intermediate Care facility across from the Pingree Road Metra Station.

People can not only walk in and get medical care without an appointment, similar to a nearby facility operated by Centegra, but they will be treated by a Board Certified Emergency Room doctor, a skill set not provided at other facilities.

If I ever cut my finger badly enough to need its being sewed up, now I won’t have to got to an emergency room a half an hour away.

Here is the sheriff’s press release:

Alzheimer’s and Autism Tracking System

Sheriff Keith Nygren has proudly announced that the Sheriff’s Office has teamed up with Crystal Lake Police Department, Huntley Police Department and, most importantly, Family Alliance, Inc. to provide a tracking system to those in McHenry County that have Alzheimer’s, Autism, or other special needs.

Radio wave receivers and wristband transmitters from CareTrak Inc. will be used to locate those who may go missing.

Wristband transmitters for this tracking system are available to those that meet the following four criteria.

1. Someone who has been diagnosed with special needs
2. Must be under 24 hour personal care
3. Has a history of wandering
4. Has difficulty in communicating

Each wristband transmitter is unique to the person wearing it.

If someone wearing this transmitter wanders, the caretaker will notify law enforcement immediately.

Law Enforcement will respond immediately, and trained personnel equipped with the tracking receivers will work to locate the wearer of the transmitter. With this technology the speed and efficiency of the police locating the lost will be improved.

All partners involved viewed this program as a new tool to help those in the community who need it most. Currently there are an estimated 5 million people in the United States who have Alzheimer’s and 1.5 million children with Autism.

Family Alliance has partnered with the three police departments to be the administrator of the program.

Monthly visits to those participating in the program are required to verify that the equipment is working properly and to change the battery.

Family Alliance will also keep a data base for participating law enforcement in McHenry County to provide them with information if a participant in the program would go missing.

Advocate Good Shepherd has also been essential to this program in donating the tracking/receiving equipment and training the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, the Crystal Lake Police Department, and the Huntley Police Department. The training will occur September 30th and October 1st from CareTrak, Inc., the manufactures of this program.

Additional information on how to participate in this program is available through Family Alliance Inc. All partners plan to have this program fully operational by January 1, 2009.

= = = = =
After Saturday’s announcement, Sheriff Keith Nygren showed Linda Moore a flyer for from Alzheimer’s disease sufferer Edward Sylvio Demers, who disappeared in October of 2003 has not been heard of since.

Maybe the following press release from McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren will give the Northwest Herald to publicize what I likened to a Dick Tracy wrist radio device to help police find missing Alzheimer and Autistic residents in my story on Saturday. It is complete with pictures and explains how Sun City Republican Precinct Committeeman Linda Moore started asking the questions this year that led to the program.

That’s the day Good Shepherd Hospital announced it has donated $15,000 for equipment and training for the Crystal Lake and Huntley Police Departments, plus the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

With the NW Herald being the dominant deliverer of local news in McHenry County, it certainly should run an article to alert those with potentially wondering children and older relatives, that this service will soon be available.

Twenty minutes is the average time it takes to find a lost relative using the system, which the head of Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department, Dr. Joe Giangrasso likens to a LoJack system for people.

Good Shepherd announced the new system at the grand opening of its new Intermediate Care facility across from the Pingree Road Metra Station.

People can not only walk in and get medical care without an appointment, similar to a nearby facility operated by Centegra, but they will be treated by a Board Certified Emergency Room doctor, a skill set not provided at other facilities.

If I ever cut my finger badly enough to need its being sewed up, now I won’t have to got to an emergency room a half an hour away.

Here is the sheriff’s press release:

Alzheimer’s and Autism Tracking System

Sheriff Keith Nygren has proudly announced that the Sheriff’s Office has teamed up with Crystal Lake Police Department, Huntley Police Department and, most importantly, Family Alliance, Inc. to provide a tracking system to those in McHenry County that have Alzheimer’s, Autism, or other special needs.

Radio wave receivers and wristband transmitters from CareTrak Inc. will be used to locate those who may go missing.

Wristband transmitters for this tracking system are available to those that meet the following four criteria.

1. Someone who has been diagnosed with special needs
2. Must be under 24 hour personal care
3. Has a history of wandering
4. Has difficulty in communicating

Each wristband transmitter is unique to the person wearing it.

If someone wearing this transmitter wanders, the caretaker will notify law enforcement immediately.

Law Enforcement will respond immediately, and trained personnel equipped with the tracking receivers will work to locate the wearer of the transmitter. With this technology the speed and efficiency of the police locating the lost will be improved.

All partners involved viewed this program as a new tool to help those in the community who need it most. Currently there are an estimated 5 million people in the United States who have Alzheimer’s and 1.5 million children with Autism.

Family Alliance has partnered with the three police departments to be the administrator of the program.

Monthly visits to those participating in the program are required to verify that the equipment is working properly and to change the battery.

Family Alliance will also keep a data base for participating law enforcement in McHenry County to provide them with information if a participant in the program would go missing.

Advocate Good Shepherd has also been essential to this program in donating the tracking/receiving equipment and training the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, the Crystal Lake Police Department, and the Huntley Police Department. The training will occur September 30th and October 1st from CareTrak, Inc., the manufactures of this program.

Additional information on how to participate in this program is available through Family Alliance Inc. All partners plan to have this program fully operational by January 1, 2009.

= = = = =
After Saturday’s announcement, Sheriff Keith Nygren showed Linda Moore a flyer for from Alzheimer’s disease sufferer Edward Sylvio Demers, who disappeared in October of 2003 has not been heard of since.

An extension of Good Shepherd Hospital has opened in Crystal Lake across from the Pingree Road Metra commuter station. You can drive straight across the street from the Metra parking lot into the new Immediate Care Center.

It’s at 525 Congress Parkway and had a “soft opening” on Monday.

“It’s state of the art ambulatory services,” Ambulatory Services Manager Deb Spiewok told me.

“The name of the building is Good Shepherd Hospital Outpatient Center,” Ro Ostergaard, Adovcate Good Shepherd Hospital Communications Manager, explained when I called her.

Spiewok, a bit camera shy, explained the vision for the facility:

To bring Good Shepherd quality services to Crystal Lake and surrounding communities.

“This facility is an extension of the hospital,” she added.

Its Medical Director is Dr. Liz Horvath. She is a Board Certified Emergency Care physician, seen here with Dr. Joe Giangrasso, who heads Good Shepherd Hospital’s Emergency Department.

8 AM to 8 PM is when she or another Board Certified Emergency Care physician will be available to treat patients.

Once you find the building, you just walk in the door and take the first door on the left. That’s where I found Dr. Horvath and Dr. Giangrasso.

“The physicians staffing the facility will be the same physicians that treat the patients at Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department,” Dr. Giangrasso explained.

“It’s very important for the quality of care for our patients,” Ambulatory Services Manager Spiewok added. “We have a physician, nurses and emergency room clinical techs.”

Good Shepherd’s investment in this new medical office complex strikes me as pretty large.

Spiewok showed me 8 treatment rooms. These rooms have walls and doors. It seems to be a step up from the Good Shepherd emergency room I remember when we took our son at least one remodeling ago, when curtains provided the privacy.

Adjoining and connected to the Immediate Care examining room complex, including one to treat eye problems, there is an imaging center, Spiewok showed me.

“We have a full imaging center with digital mammography and state of the art CT and MRI,” she continued. “We have X-ray and ultrasound in addition. It was designed with patients’ privacy in mind.”

I was showed individual waiting rooms with doors to protect one’s privacy. This one goes right into the X-ray room. They told me there already is such an exam scheduled for Wednesday.

As the tour continued, I saw the digital mammography room. Again, it is accessible from individual private rooms. That’s Spiewok playing patient.

Radiologic Techologist Mike Heft proudly showed me the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine.

He explained that it supplies 1.5 tesla Magnetic Resonance images, pointing out that the strength of the magnet is state of the art.

When I had an MRI back in the late 1990′s, I felt claustrophobic. This machine seems to have a hole big enough to remove such fears.

“It’s a large opening, so people don’t feel so confined,” Heft explained.

Then, he showed me the GE Light Speed 64 slice CT scan machine, pointing out that it is “state of the art.”

He said it would be used for angiography and cardiac studies.

Spiewok also showed me a community outreach room available for meetings. It’s right past the elevator leading to the future office of Board Certified physician Dr. Robert Malecki, who will start accepting new patients the middle of next month.

Yesterday they held a “soft opening.” There was one patient. Maybe it was because of the widespread mailing made by Good Shepherd.

“If an ambulance is needed, the EMS staff follow their normal protocol,” Ostergaard told me when I asked to what emergency room would patients needing more help be taken.

A community open house will be Saturday, September 13th from 9-1. The phone number is 815-479-8020. The address 525 Congress Parkway.

And, if you ride Metra, don’t think about parking in this building’s parking lot. The sign is already up.

The opening of this Immediate Care service follows the failure of Wisconsin-based Mercy Health Systems to gain approval for a hospital in Crystal Lake, which, of course, would have put an emergency room in Crystal Lake.

Earlier this year, Centegra opened a medical office building right behind Dominick’s. (You can see it in the bottom photo to the right of Advocate Good Shepherd Outpatient Center.)

Having visited two physicians there, I am not aware that it has a walk-in capacity. I had to make appointments.

= = = = =
Sept. 4th I was informed by Centegra’s Leanne Whiting that its building where two of my physicians are housed does have a walk-in capacity. Here’s what she emailed me:

“I just wanted to clarify some information about the Centegra Immediate Care center available at 360 Station Dr.

“In your blog you questioned whether or not the facility had walk-in capacity and I am writing to let you know that we do, and encourage people to walk in.

“Centegra Primary Care offices are also available at this location; to see one of these doctors you must make an appointment. If you have any further questions regarding the Crystal Lake Medical Arts building or the Centegra Immediate Care center please contact me.”

= = = = =
In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about the opening of the facility today at my brother-in-law Joe Giangrasso’s son’s birthday party at my in-laws Wonder Lake home. Never can tell where a story will pop up.

An extension of Good Shepherd Hospital has opened in Crystal Lake across from the Pingree Road Metra commuter station. You can drive straight across the street from the Metra parking lot into the new Immediate Care Center.

It’s at 525 Congress Parkway and had a “soft opening” on Monday.

“It’s state of the art ambulatory services,” Ambulatory Services Manager Deb Spiewok told me.

“The name of the building is Good Shepherd Hospital Outpatient Center,” Ro Ostergaard, Adovcate Good Shepherd Hospital Communications Manager, explained when I called her.

Spiewok, a bit camera shy, explained the vision for the facility:

To bring Good Shepherd quality services to Crystal Lake and surrounding communities.

“This facility is an extension of the hospital,” she added.

Its Medical Director is Dr. Liz Horvath. She is a Board Certified Emergency Care physician, seen here with Dr. Joe Giangrasso, who heads Good Shepherd Hospital’s Emergency Department.

8 AM to 8 PM is when she or another Board Certified Emergency Care physician will be available to treat patients.

Once you find the building, you just walk in the door and take the first door on the left. That’s where I found Dr. Horvath and Dr. Giangrasso.

“The physicians staffing the facility will be the same physicians that treat the patients at Good Shepherd’s Emergency Department,” Dr. Giangrasso explained.

“It’s very important for the quality of care for our patients,” Ambulatory Services Manager Spiewok added. “We have a physician, nurses and emergency room clinical techs.”

Good Shepherd’s investment in this new medical office complex strikes me as pretty large.

Spiewok showed me 8 treatment rooms. These rooms have walls and doors. It seems to be a step up from the Good Shepherd emergency room I remember when we took our son at least one remodeling ago, when curtains provided the privacy.

Adjoining and connected to the Immediate Care examining room complex, including one to treat eye problems, there is an imaging center, Spiewok showed me.

“We have a full imaging center with digital mammography and state of the art CT and MRI,” she continued. “We have X-ray and ultrasound in addition. It was designed with patients’ privacy in mind.”

I was showed individual waiting rooms with doors to protect one’s privacy. This one goes right into the X-ray room. They told me there already is such an exam scheduled for Wednesday.

As the tour continued, I saw the digital mammography room. Again, it is accessible from individual private rooms. That’s Spiewok playing patient.

Radiologic Techologist Mike Heft proudly showed me the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine.

He explained that it supplies 1.5 tesla Magnetic Resonance images, pointing out that the strength of the magnet is state of the art.

When I had an MRI back in the late 1990′s, I felt claustrophobic. This machine seems to have a hole big enough to remove such fears.

“It’s a large opening, so people don’t feel so confined,” Heft explained.

Then, he showed me the GE Light Speed 64 slice CT scan machine, pointing out that it is “state of the art.”

He said it would be used for angiography and cardiac studies.

Spiewok also showed me a community outreach room available for meetings. It’s right past the elevator leading to the future office of Board Certified physician Dr. Robert Malecki, who will start accepting new patients the middle of next month.

Yesterday they held a “soft opening.” There was one patient. Maybe it was because of the widespread mailing made by Good Shepherd.

“If an ambulance is needed, the EMS staff follow their normal protocol,” Ostergaard told me when I asked to what emergency room would patients needing more help be taken.

A community open house will be Saturday, September 13th from 9-1. The phone number is 815-479-8020. The address 525 Congress Parkway.

And, if you ride Metra, don’t think about parking in this building’s parking lot. The sign is already up.

The opening of this Immediate Care service follows the failure of Wisconsin-based Mercy Health Systems to gain approval for a hospital in Crystal Lake, which, of course, would have put an emergency room in Crystal Lake.

Earlier this year, Centegra opened a medical office building right behind Dominick’s. (You can see it in the bottom photo to the right of Advocate Good Shepherd Outpatient Center.)

Having visited two physicians there, I am not aware that it has a walk-in capacity. I had to make appointments.

= = = = =
Sept. 4th I was informed by Centegra’s Leanne Whiting that its building where two of my physicians are housed does have a walk-in capacity. Here’s what she emailed me:

“I just wanted to clarify some information about the Centegra Immediate Care center available at 360 Station Dr.

“In your blog you questioned whether or not the facility had walk-in capacity and I am writing to let you know that we do, and encourage people to walk in.

“Centegra Primary Care offices are also available at this location; to see one of these doctors you must make an appointment. If you have any further questions regarding the Crystal Lake Medical Arts building or the Centegra Immediate Care center please contact me.”

= = = = =
In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about the opening of the facility today at my brother-in-law Joe Giangrasso’s son’s birthday party at my in-laws Wonder Lake home. Never can tell where a story will pop up.

I haven’t written anything on the Northern Illinois massacre beyond my being astounded by NIU’s president and police chief assertion of satisfaction with the way things went after the mass murder and how my grandfather helped stop an early 1940′s crime spree in Elkton, Maryland, by serving as one of fifty “secret deputies.”

But, today let’s compare tragedies and what was done to commemorate them.

DeKalb is not only place around here where young people have needlessly lost their lives.

One only has to think of the horrible October 25, 1995, Fox River Grove school bus-Metra train collusion in 1995.

Mercifully, I remained blissfully ignorant of the morning crash until about noon.

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law, Dr. Joe Giangrasso, was treating the victims in Good Shepherd Hospital’s Emergency Room and my lab manager wife was running a reporter out of hospital bathroom where he were hiding, among other things.

In any event, the Fox River Grove tragedy was reported nationwide, just like NIU’s.

Millions of people could identify with the District 155 Cary-Grove High School victims, just as they can with the murdered and injured NIU students.

I introduced a resolution which I have put below this story. The resolution designated the railroad crossing “Seven Angels Crossing,” using a Cary-Grove High Schooler’s terminology.

The Daily Herald printed it in full, prompting a local resident to give me a short course in angels. He patiently told me that the dead children were not angels, that that was not Biblical.

Of course, upon reflection, I realized he was correct.

Before I got the call, I had envisioned a sign saying “Seven Angels Crossing” arching over the street where the accident occurred. Of course, that was left up to those in Fox River Grove.

Tomorrow, back to NIU.

= = = = =
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

The sign at the top and the close-up here reminds us of Governor Rod Blagojevich, oops, I mean Governor Blagojevich’s “Open Road Tolling” initiative. The arch was, of course, financed by tolls paid by motorists. The little girl by her bicycle is looking at the small rock with two brass plaques near where the bus in the picture below sat. The Fox River Grove bus crash photo comes from the National Traffic Safety Board report on the accident.

The Illinois House Joint Resolution follows:

House Joint Resolution 63

WHEREAS, This Body joins with the nation and the world in offering support and sympathy to the grieving citizens of Fox River Grove and the Cary-Grove High School; and

WHEREAS, The entire country was shocked at the tragedy that occurred on Wednesday, October 25, when the Cary-Grove High School bus was struck by a Metra train in Fox River Grove; and

WHEREAS, The accident claimed the lives of seven innocent students: Jeffrey J. Clark, Stephanie Lynn Fulham, Susana Guzman, Michael Bennett, Joseph Kaite, Shawn Robinson, and Tiffany Schneider; and

WHEREAS, Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the families of these young people; classmates and neighbors sign the praises of these bright lights, extinguished too soon; and

WHEREAS, We offer our moral support to the survivors of the accident and their families and friends and our empathy to the bus driver, Patricia Catencamp, an the train engineer, Ford Dotson, with the hope they all will find comfort and peace; and

WHEREAS, House Rule 3-6(a) generally prohibits memorial resolutions; the House has waived this rule and made an exception in order to allow the consideration and adoption of this resolution as an expression of our deep concern for all involved in this tragedy’ and

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, that we extend our deepest sympathy to the victims and families of the injured and deceased; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the railroad crossing in Fox River Grove be designated “Seven Angels Crossing” and that the Illinois Department of Transportation be directed to erect an appropriate marker in recognition of this designation and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the parents of Jeffrey J. Clark, Stephanie Lynn Fulham, Susana Guzman, Michael Bennett, Joseph Kaite, Shawn Robinson, and Tiffany Schneider, to the principal of Cary-Grove High School on behalf of the students, to Patricia Calencamp, to Ford Dotson, and to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transporation.

I haven’t written anything on the Northern Illinois massacre beyond my being astounded by NIU’s president and police chief assertion of satisfaction with the way things went after the mass murder and how my grandfather helped stop an early 1940′s crime spree in Elkton, Maryland, by serving as one of fifty “secret deputies.”

But, today let’s compare tragedies and what was done to commemorate them.

DeKalb is not only place around here where young people have needlessly lost their lives.

One only has to think of the horrible October 25, 1995, Fox River Grove school bus-Metra train collusion in 1995.

Mercifully, I remained blissfully ignorant of the morning crash until about noon.

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law, Dr. Joe Giangrasso, was treating the victims in Good Shepherd Hospital’s Emergency Room and my lab manager wife was running a reporter out of hospital bathroom where he were hiding, among other things.

In any event, the Fox River Grove tragedy was reported nationwide, just like NIU’s.

Millions of people could identify with the District 155 Cary-Grove High School victims, just as they can with the murdered and injured NIU students.

I introduced a resolution which I have put below this story. The resolution designated the railroad crossing “Seven Angels Crossing,” using a Cary-Grove High Schooler’s terminology.

The Daily Herald printed it in full, prompting a local resident to give me a short course in angels. He patiently told me that the dead children were not angels, that that was not Biblical.

Of course, upon reflection, I realized he was correct.

Before I got the call, I had envisioned a sign saying “Seven Angels Crossing” arching over the street where the accident occurred. Of course, that was left up to those in Fox River Grove.

Tomorrow, back to NIU.

= = = = =
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

The sign at the top and the close-up here reminds us of Governor Rod Blagojevich, oops, I mean Governor Blagojevich’s “Open Road Tolling” initiative. The arch was, of course, financed by tolls paid by motorists. The little girl by her bicycle is looking at the small rock with two brass plaques near where the bus in the picture below sat. The Fox River Grove bus crash photo comes from the National Traffic Safety Board report on the accident.

The Illinois House Joint Resolution follows:

House Joint Resolution 63

WHEREAS, This Body joins with the nation and the world in offering support and sympathy to the grieving citizens of Fox River Grove and the Cary-Grove High School; and

WHEREAS, The entire country was shocked at the tragedy that occurred on Wednesday, October 25, when the Cary-Grove High School bus was struck by a Metra train in Fox River Grove; and

WHEREAS, The accident claimed the lives of seven innocent students: Jeffrey J. Clark, Stephanie Lynn Fulham, Susana Guzman, Michael Bennett, Joseph Kaite, Shawn Robinson, and Tiffany Schneider; and

WHEREAS, Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the families of these young people; classmates and neighbors sign the praises of these bright lights, extinguished too soon; and

WHEREAS, We offer our moral support to the survivors of the accident and their families and friends and our empathy to the bus driver, Patricia Catencamp, an the train engineer, Ford Dotson, with the hope they all will find comfort and peace; and

WHEREAS, House Rule 3-6(a) generally prohibits memorial resolutions; the House has waived this rule and made an exception in order to allow the consideration and adoption of this resolution as an expression of our deep concern for all involved in this tragedy’ and

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, that we extend our deepest sympathy to the victims and families of the injured and deceased; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the railroad crossing in Fox River Grove be designated “Seven Angels Crossing” and that the Illinois Department of Transportation be directed to erect an appropriate marker in recognition of this designation and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the parents of Jeffrey J. Clark, Stephanie Lynn Fulham, Susana Guzman, Michael Bennett, Joseph Kaite, Shawn Robinson, and Tiffany Schneider, to the principal of Cary-Grove High School on behalf of the students, to Patricia Calencamp, to Ford Dotson, and to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transporation.