George Hevesy, M.D.

I believe Peoria has a problem.

I have attempted to document what I think some of the problems are regarding pre hospital care on Peoria's Medical Mafia and on this web log.

In summary, the Peoria area has many Emergency Medicine Services (EMS) agencies ("ambulance services"). The doctor in charge of the all of these agencies is called the Project Medical Director (PMD).

The doctor who served as PMD for many years was Dr. George Hevesy. Dr. Hevesy was also the Assistant Director of the OSF-SFMC Emergency Department and, even though he was the PMD which covered all of Advanced Medical Transport's (AMT) pre-hospital protocols, he was named the Corporate Medical Director of Advanced Medical Transport(AMT). Dr. Hevesy receives a salary from both OSF-SFMC and AMT. Dr. Hevesy is also Director of EMS for Region II for the State of Illinois.

When Dr. Hevesy was appointed Director of the OSF-Emergency Department in 2001, he resigned his position as PMD but kept his position as Corporate Medical Director of AMT and as Director of EMS for Region II. (Sue Wozniak, Chief Operating Officer at OSF-SFMC and a member of the board of Directors at AMT, told me that it was good that Dr. Hevesy resigned as PMD with his compensated affiliation with AMT.)

The current OSF physician who is PMD for all of central Illinois is Matt Jackson, M.D. Dr. Jackson works for OSF-SFMC in the Emergency Department. Dr. Hevesy is Dr. Jackson’s supervisor in the OSF-SFMC Emergency Department. Dr. Jackson most likely needs to clear his pre hospital EMS protocols with Dr. Hevesy.

The Peoria Area EMS System (PAEMSS) office is on the OSF campus. PAEMSS is composed of a conglomeration of people who rubber stamp what is good for OSF, AMT, and Dr. Hevesy. Douglas Marshall of Hinshaw-Culbertson supports PAEMSS, OSF, Dr. Hevesy, and I believe he was AMT’s lawyer in the past.

AMT is the only Paramedic/Transport agency in the city of Peoria. They have a board composed of business people. Again, Dr. Hevesy receives a salary from Advanced Medical Transport as their Corporate Medical Director.

The Peoria Fire Department is a Basic level pre hospital provider. They cannot transport patients. They do not own an ambulance. They have no “corporate medical director” to help them upgrade their services and educate them regarding state of the art pre hospital medical care. They have to answer to the local PMD.

Several years ago an important policy was changed. For the first time, the PFD paramedics were allowed to give paramedic care at the scene under the supervision of AMT’s paramedics. (The PFD carries no advanced life support drugs or breathing tubes for the patient, so the PFD has to rely on AMT’s equipment.) I believe this policy change happened after the unfortunate death of a Peorian in a restaurant.

This policy change, which allowed the PFD paramedics to function as paramedics, was decided locally by the PMD. It did not make the local news for obvious reasons.

Why was the policy changed and why did it exist in the first place? Did it take this patient's death to change the policy? How many lives would have been saved during the last 15 years if the PFD paramedics could always have functioned as paramedics with the proper equipment? How many more lives would be saved if the PFD paramedics did not need to wait for AMT to arrive before they give advanced life support?

Was the PFD ever discouraged or intimidated from attempting to upgrade their services for the citizens of Peoria? And if so, by who?

Dr. Hevesy's position and power are feared by many people. Hundreds of people that work for municipal and rural EMS agencies as paid and unpaid employees know that Dr. Hevesy and his cronies largely control what these agencies can and cannot do as pre hospital care providers. Dr. Hevesy has the support of the puppet board of directors of AMT and PAEMSS. The legal team which supports OSF, AMT, and PAEMSS would obviously support Dr. Hevesy as well. Also, his influence at the State of Illinois in Region II is well known around the state.

Dr. Hevesy obviously wears many hats locally and at the state level. In addition to the above he is Chairman of the Disciplinary Review Board for the State of Illinois.

Should his control and influence regarding EMS in central Illinois for the past 15 years be scrutinized and evaluated? Should his own Disciplinary Review Board review Dr. Hevesy?