If the Walls Could Talk Podcast™ – Episode 5: “Something We Had to Do” 

Paranoia spread throughout Edgewater Hospital that the FBI had bugged administrators’ phones and offices. Episode 5: “Something We Had to Do” shares the numerous meetings and how they “silently” communicated the details of the ongoing insurance fraud scheme. One such meeting happened with Peter Rogan and Roger Ehmen at a steam room inside a fancy Chicago hotel. Hear what Peter allegedly promised Roger…if  Roger agreed to take the fall.

Despite stories of rampant insurance fraud and doctors performing unnecessary medical procedures, state regulators and even Edgewater Hospital’s Board of Directors never intervened. Hear about the swanky place they conducted these meetings and how a fist fight almost broke out during one of those board meetings. 

In 2001, Peter Rogan and his management company were fired one day before the feds finally dropped a 58-count indictment. Despite that, Peter continued to own some of the hospital property. One employee shares what happened when Peter showed up to the hospital that had fired him.

The FBI’s investigation came to a screeching halt when it became clear the dirty money rolling in was the only thing keeping the hospital in business. Heated meetings between the US Attorney’s Office, local politicians and the feds sought to find a compromise. But it was a decision at the federal level that sealed Edgewater Hospital’s fate.

In late-2001, Medicare cut off payments to Edgewater and then a Hail Mary deal to save the hospital crumbled. Just before Edgewater Hospital ran out of cash, it closed its doors.

Episode 5: “Something We Had to Do” features employees describing the incredible anger, confusion and sadness they felt on that final day. One employee remembers how they feverishly worked to transfer all of the remaining patients to other hospitals. One EMT described the scene as “something I’ll never get out of my mind.”

After the doors were locked for the final time, an eerie number of people were now out of work. And the hospital buildings? They were left to sit and rot. Offices sat idle with computers on the desks, personal items pinned to the wall and food remaining in the fridge. Thousands of personal and confidential medical records were left behind in the buildings along with medical equipment and supplies. Someone described the scene as looking “like it was out of an apocalyptic movie.“

The neighbors all wondered what would become of this hulking hospital campus tucked within their residential Chicago neighborhood. Meanwhile the US Attorney’s Office grappled with whom to hold responsible for the mess. Would Peter Rogan get away with it? Hear the heartbreaking story that left one FBI agent in tears in Episode 5: “Something We Had to Do” — on If the Walls Could Talk Podcast™.

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Todd and Stephani detail the one interview that ended with all three of them in tears. They’ll share what happened on that Zoom call and why the interview almost never aired.

Edgewater’s Human Resources Director discusses the time she had to investigate some suspicious activity in the hospital’s morgue. She’ll share that eerie story and a few others in our “Cut for Time” segment.

Many hospital employees believed Edgewater was going to be saved at the last minute. We’ll describe who was supposed to buy the hospital and why the deal ultimately fell apart.

Journalist Bruce Japsen wrote about the Edgewater Hospital saga and also co-authored this article about the Joint Commission accreditation process. Hear how the oversight agencies failed to keep the fraud and corruption out of the hospital.

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