(STURGIS) - The closing of Sturgis Hospital was the focus of a town hall meeting Tuesday night.
The event was put on by Christian Vukasovich, the Democratic candidate running for the 5th District U.S. House of Representatives position.
Several people spoke, sharing that the closing of the Hospital was due to many factors such as poor legislation from the State and Federal governments.
There were several former Sturgis Hospital employees in attendance. Stacy Tessman, who worked at the Hospital for 29 years says there were several issues internally. She says during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sturgis Hospital never billed anyone for oxygen, intubation or other services because there was a fallout in the billing department.
Tessman shared that her grandmother was billed one year after receiving services and when she contacted the hospital, was told the bill was sent in error and to ignore it. She also spoke about people she knew who were sent to collections over a bill of $54.
Tessman says problems with the Hospital's administration was a huge issue as well.
Tessman says the administration was worried about employees wearing their Sturgis Hospital t-shirts and where people were parking instead of fixing the problems. She says everyone needs to stop and look at where money was being placed that was going into that facility. (LISTEN ABOVE)
Tessman also spoke how the Hospital was cited recently for not having a budget for the last few years.