Latest news with #SpringfieldClinic
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Yahoo
Judge ruling on whether to bar gambling evidence at Watseka woman's trial
KANKAKEE, Ill. (WCIA) — A Kankakee County judge is anticipated to make a decision in less than two months on whether to bar a jury from hearing evidence in a former Iroquois County Health Administrator's gambling trial. WCIA's partners with the Ford County Chronicle reported that Dee Ann Schippert, 57 of Watseka, is charged with 33 felonies, including eight counts of theft of government property by deception, eight counts of forgery and 17 counts of official misconduct. Schippert appeared in a Kankakee courtroom for a pretrial hearing on Tuesday with her Springfield attorneys Mark Wykoff Sr. and Daniel Fultz. Taylorville teens nearly derail train hauling hazardous materials by putting plates on tracks In December, two motions were filed in limine by her attorneys, including one seeking a judge's order to prohibit evidence and testimony related to her gambling, arguing it's 'irrelevant.' In a response to this motion, Assistant Illinois Attorney General Haley Bookhout, who is prosecuting the case with Assistant Attorney General Mara Somlo, argued otherwise. Bookhout said that this will show that over a 20-month span during the COVID-19 pandemic, Schippert spent at least 759 hours at a Watseka gambling establishment while she claimed she was working. This turned out to be an average of almost 38 hours per month. According to online court records, William Dickenson, Kankakee County Judge, who was reassigned this case after it was filed in Iroquois County Circuit Court in 2024 due to the recusal of two Iroquois County judges, heard arguments from both sides during the March 18 hearing before taking the matter under advisement. The case was then continued to 1:30 p.m. on May 5 for a decision on the motion. The second motion in limine filed by Schippert's attorneys, which aims to bar prosectors from introducing evidence or testimony at trial indicating that she does not support the 'LGBTQIA+ agenda,' was granted with no objection from prosecutors. Additionally, both sides were advised by the judge to 'obtain leave from court' if cross-examination may involve such testimony or evidence. The charges filed against Schippert last March allege Schippert stole more than $100,000 from the health department between May 31, 2020, and July 15, 2022, by submitting fraudulent timesheets claiming hours she did not work, including overtime and backpay she never earned. Springfield Clinic to lay off staff, cites 'financial challenges' She also allegedly made 'false representations' to the board of health to obtain its approval to receive pay for 179 hours of overtime and fraudulently used funds from a grant for COVID-19 contact tracing to pay for her overtime. On top of this, Schippert allegedly committed 'whistleblower retaliation' through the act of firing an employee on June 15, 2022, after the staffer tipped off authorities to her conduct. Prosecutors said they plan to present time-stamped video recordings from Winnie's Gaming Café at 1004 E Walnut St. in Watseka as evidence, plus witness testimony from county employees who said they often would see her vehicle parked there on weekdays during normal business hours. Additionally, other evidence includes Schippert's cellphone and office call logs and her remote-access log-in information from her work laptop. 'The People intend to present evidence from both witnesses as well as documentary records reviewed during the investigation to demonstrate that the Defendant was not only not working her required 40 hours per week [but] was also falsifying her overtime hours in order to receive overtime pay,' Bookhout wrote on Jan. 24. 'Evidence of her hours spent at Winnie's, coupled with other evidence obtained, is both highly relevant and necessary to the People's case in-chief.' Schippert currently remains free from custody on pretrial conditions. More information on the trial can be found on the Ford County Chronicle's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Springfield Clinic cuts the ribbon on new urgent care facility
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – If you're feeling under the weather, you might go to urgent care for treatment. But Springfield Clinic's new facility aims to help more than just your typical cold or flu. 'Our goal is to offer this hybrid opportunity for patients that may not necessarily need to go to a hospital setting or emergency room setting, but they need more than what traditional urgent care can provide for them,' Dr. DJ Goldberg, the co-medical director, said. It's called Urgent Care Plus. It provides services like IV treatments, X-rays, CAT scans and ultrasounds. 'We have all ER trained staffing here, providers and nursing so that's all kind of different than you would expect from an urgent care that most people are used to,' Dr. Goldberg said. The facility opened its doors to patients Monday and held a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday to celebrate. 'We're seeing 30 to 40 patients a day, which is more than we were expecting and it's been great so far,' Dr. Goldberg said. Many of the people they see are referred to them from the patient's doctor's offices. 'Normally they would have only one option for their patient which is to send them to the emergency room,' Dr. Goldberg said. 'We're now a second option if they feel they're appropriate to come here.' Others come in for conditions like chest pains, migraines, headaches, kidney stones and things like the flu or strep throat. 'The impact we see is that the patient satisfaction will go up,' Dr. Goldberg said. 'Hopefully the illnesses we're treating will have better success rates because they're getting seen in a more prompt setting.' The new facility will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
