{"id":1005455,"date":"2026-08-17T00:29:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1005455\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T00:29:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:29:23","slug":"vista-health-system-in-waukegan-appoints-5th-new-ceo-in-3-years-as-employees-complain-about-ongoing-payroll-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1005455\/","title":{"rendered":"Vista Health System in Waukegan appoints 5th new CEO in 3 years as employees complain about ongoing payroll issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\" <\/a>Daisy Rodriguez (inset) was recently appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Vista Health System after CEO Kim Needham resigned from her position earlier this month. Rodriguez is among five CEOs to serve the hospital system in just three years. | Background Photo: Woo-Sung Shim \/ Lake and McHenry County Scanner; Inset: Provided<\/p>\n

Vista Health System in Waukegan has appointed its fifth new CEO in just three years as employees at Vista Medical Center East complain about ongoing payroll issues and the hospital faces foreclosure.<\/p>\n

Daisy Rodriguez was recently named CEO and Chief Nursing Officer of Vista Health System.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez has over 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare and is a registered nurse who holds a Master of Science in nursing.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez called her first responsibility \u201clistening\u201d to the hospital system\u2019s employees, patients and community since \u201cunderstanding where we are today is essential to determining where we need to go tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim Needham, Vista\u2019s last CEO, made an announcement to members of the board and staff in an email on August 4.<\/p>\n

She said it was after \u201ccareful consideration\u201d that she made the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to resign from her position.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing this organization has been one of the greatest privileges of my professional career. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such talented, dedicated, and compassionate individuals who remain committed to our mission and the communities we serve,\u201d Needham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we have navigated challenges and celebrated successes. The commitment and resilience demonstrated by our employees, medical staff, leadership team, and Board have been inspiring, and I will always value the relationships and experiences gained during my tenure,\u201d Needham said.<\/p>\n

She added that she wanted to express her appreciation to the hospital system\u2019s board of directors for their \u201ctrust and support,\u201d as well as to \u201cour leadership team for their partnership, to the medical staff and their gift to heal our patients, and to every employee whose dedication makes a meaningful difference each day. \u201d<\/p>\n

Needham said in the announcement that she would continue to hold the organization and its people in the \u201chighest regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her resignation was effective August 7. She is staying on to support Vista in a contractor role to ensure a smooth transition.<\/p>\n

Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said that he was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d by the ongoing failures at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthcare is a fundamental right. For decades, Vista Medical Center East has served as a vital lifeline for emergency care, medical treatment, and employment for the people of Waukegan and broader Lake County. To see this community asset decline is a devastating blow and a direct result of the corporate failure of American Healthcare Systems,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n

Needham served as the CEO for less than a year and a half.<\/p>\n

She was appointed to the role in April 2025, at which time Vista\u2019s leadership said her appointment marked a \u201cnew chapter\u201d for the hospital and \u201creaffirmed commitment to the people and families who make up the vibrant community we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to Needham serving in the post, Aundrea Styles served as the acting interim CEO.<\/p>\n

Styles served in the position after Kevin Spiegel, who was appointed CEO in October 2024, left the post in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Bianca Defilippi served as CEO prior to Spiegel after being appointed when American Healthcare Systems (AHS) purchased the hospital system in July 2023.<\/p>\n

Vista has been struggling financially in recent years and is currently facing foreclosure due to millions of dollars in unpaid property taxes.<\/p>\n

They also owe the City of Waukegan hundreds of thousands of dollars for water, in addition to many court judgments ordering them to pay vendors and contractors.<\/p>\n

Vista Health System employees have faced delays in receiving their paychecks on several occasions this year due to funding issues.<\/p>\n

Cunningham said his administration, alongside city leadership, state legislators, regional healthcare leaders and community advocates, spent the past several months actively pursuing solutions, facilitating discussions and exploring \u201cevery possible path\u201d to keep the facility operating.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, local efforts cannot overcome a corporate business model that prioritizes profit margins over human lives. Frontline healthcare workers and support staff show up every day to care for the community. They deserve reliable, guaranteed compensation for their labor, not financial uncertainty,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, local families and neighbors deserve accessible, dependable healthcare in their own backyard, because every resident\u2019s health, safety, and well-being depend on a healthcare system that puts people over profit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In March and April, employees of Vista Medical Center East were not paid on time<\/a> two separate times. The hospital said a delay in payroll funding caused the paychecks not to be received both times.<\/p>\n

Employees at Vista Medical Center East have told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the company has been experiencing payroll issues and Thursday marked the third week that staff had been forced to pick up paper checks instead of receiving their paycheck electronically.<\/p>\n

The hospital has also not been paying property taxes, accumulating millions of dollars owed to the county.<\/p>\n

A company bought the delinquent taxes and has begun foreclosure proceedings<\/a> in an effort to take possession of the hospital.<\/p>\n

A court hearing is set for September 11 in the matter. Attorneys previously said in July that discussions were being had between the lienholder and the hospital system but no settlement was announced at the most recent court hearing earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Waukegan 8th Ward Alderperson Dr. Lynn Florian previously said that Vista owes approximately $300,000 in past-due water bills to the City of Waukegan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daisy Rodriguez (inset) was recently appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Vista Health System after CEO…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1005456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[393788,402472,168469,210,1141,1142,15876,9423,100937,392404,67,132,68,393789,393790,54186],"class_list":["post-1005455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-chief-executive-officer-kim-needham","tag-daisy-rodriguez","tag-financial-issues","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-layoffs","tag-property-taxes","tag-staffing-issues","tag-trauma-center","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-vista-health-system","tag-vista-medical-center-east","tag-waukegan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117108025814496303","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}