Woman Drives Through Front Entrance of Pontiac Hospital

By Tony Sapochetti, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

Dec. 21–PONTIAC — A car drove through the front entrance of OSF Saint James-John W. Albrecht Memorial Medical Center, Pontiac, Thursday afternoon, and the driver was being treated.

A white Cadillac drove through two sets of sliding glass doors about 4:38 p.m. and crashed into the information desk in the lobby. Police said they didn’t know the car’s speed, but they noted it wasn’t fast.

The driver, a woman, was injured and was being treated, but there were no other injuries. No one was in the lobby or at the desk at the time.

The name and condition of the driver were not available Thursday night.

Hospital spokeswoman Pam Meiner said “we are just truly blessed” that the incident wasn’t worse.

“I’ve heard that 600 people walk through the entrance in one day, and to think that she just happened to drive through at the time when absolutely no one was around,” hospital Administrator David Ochs said. “No one was at the desk, the lobby or in line for the elevators at the time. The more I think about it, the more fortunate I am.”

Hospital employees worked to clean up the damage, enclose the area and set up a temporary doorway. By 5:30 p.m., police and hospital officials were allowing people to use the front entrance again.

Mike McCoy of McCoy Construction estimated damage at $30,000.

No other hospital operations were affected.

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