The former owner and two high-level executives at the now-defunct Sacred Heart Hospital in Chicago were convicted of orchestrating a referral kickback scheme following a trial that took nearly two months, according to a release from the U.S Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois.
The gruesome details of the Sacred Heart case emerged over the last several years, including unnecessary ED admissions and unnecessary intubations. The jury found that from 2001 through 2013, the three executives paid kickbacks and bribes to physicians to refer patients to the hospital. Two physicians and two other administrators previously pled guilty to charges associated with the case, and four additional physicians will go to trial later this year. Announcement