For the second time in less than a month, paychecks were not distributed to employees at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan as expected.
Multiple employees at Vista Medical Center East at 1324 North Sheridan Road in Waukegan told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that the hospital did not pay employees as it was supposed to on Thursday.
An internal email sent to employees obtained by the Lake & McHenry County Scanner Friday from Vista HR Director Tanisha Durrah said payroll hours worked from April 5 through April 17 were processed on time, but there was a “slight delay in meeting iSolved funding deadline.”
According to its website, iSolved is the online payroll software the hospital uses to pay hospital employees.
Durrah said in the internal email that “iSolved has begun processing payroll transactions, but the timing when funds are released depends on your (employees’) financial institution.”
She added in the email that “Some banks have already started receiving deposits.”
This is the second time in less than a month that paychecks were not issued in a timely manner to Vista Medical Center East employees.
On March 27, Vista Health System CEO/COO Kim Needham said a delay in payroll was due to a processing error involving the company’s corporate office funding and iSolved.
However, Needham said the issue “has been identified” and was resolved.
“Payroll funds will be processed tomorrow morning,” she said in the email.
The previous email also stated deposits will post later in the day than normal due to standard banking times.
The delay in payroll and the lack of transparency by the hospital system sparked political outrage in the area.
“However, there’s a pattern of concerns being raised about payroll reliability,” Waukegan 8th Ward Alderman Dr. Lynn Florian told Lake and McHenry County Scanner. “Regardless of the cause, workers deserve transparency and to be paid accurately and on time—every time.”
Needhan said the delay in March was “unacceptable, and many hours have been spent with urgency to fix this error. I understand, your leaders understand, the impact this has on you and your families and are taking steps to avoid this going forward.”
“My apologies to you…. you work hard, and dedicate your time to Vista every day,” she told employees in the letter.
The issue comes after West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park closed due to funding issues.
Initially, the hospital said it was closing temporarily, but the facility has remained shuttered for about a month.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the CEO of Resilience Healthcare, which owns West Suburban Medical Center, blamed the hospital’s year-old new electronic medical record system for the payroll issues, saying that the billing and collection system has serious problems despite repairs being made.
However, an audit performed a month before the hospital closed its doors showed financial failures by hospital leadership that led to the facility closing down.
The issue at Vista Medical Center comes as American Healthcare Systems (AHS), a private equity group that owns Vista, appears to be facing significant financial issues.
The hospital announced in September 2025 that it was shutting down its child labor and delivery services due to millions of dollars in losses each year.
The company has not paid its property taxes for 2023 and 2024 and now owes over $2 million for those taxes, along with interest and fees.
One of the lienholders, FNA DZ LLC, has since filed a petition for tax deed in the Lake County Circuit Court on January 15 to initiate foreclosure proceedings against the hospital.
Some of the Vista Medical Center East parking lots in the vicinity of the hospital were recently foreclosed on by a third tax buyer through the tax sale process, Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said.
Florian said earlier this month that Vista will likely owe over $3 million in total when property taxes come due again in June.
Vista also owes approximately $300,000 in past due water bills to the City of Waukegan.
She said Vista’s future remains unclear at this time as to what could happen in the foreclosure process and whether they will pay the back taxes or not.
“Everyone deserves world-class health care — regardless of where they happen to live. When financial obligations go unmet, patient services and safety are at risk. Calling attention to this is necessary because a community’s health is on the line,” Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek, who is a nurse anesthetist who previously worked at the hospital, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner last year.