Roseland hospital official says Illinois doesn’t owe funds

An official of Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital says Illinois does not owe the facility $6 million as originally asserted. The hospital is threatening to close because of its debt.

Roseland Hospital vice president Sharon Thurman says not only doesn’t the state owe the facility money, but it recently made an advance payment of $958,240. She said Illinois and Chicago officials are working with the hospital to resolve its problems.

Roseland president Dian Powell said Monday the facility will stop accepting patients on Wednesday because it is insolvent. She said the institution is $7 million in debt.

Powell stepped down from her post Tuesday, telling the Chicago Sun-Times she believed the state will make her the issue in the hospital’s problems.

Illinois officials have said Roseland’s problems are due to mismanagement.