Former Loretto Hospital executive accused of embezzling nearly $500K amid COVID crisis

Alonzo Small
·1 min read
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CHICAGO — A former executive at Loretto Hospital is charged with embezzling thousands of dollars from the West Side facility.

Heather Bergdahl is accused of embezzling nearly half a million dollars from Loretto during the height of the pandemic. Prosecutors allege that from June through December of 2021, Bergdahl stole $486,540.

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Investigators say the 37-year-old wrote checks to several companies, even though those companies did no work for the hospital that would justify such payments. Those companies then sent tens of thousands of dollars back to Bergdahl.

Prosecutors say another former hospital executive created the companies.

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Bergdahl was let go in April 2022, according to a criminal complaint released Monday and later obtained by WGN News.

It’s not the first scandal for hospital leadership. At the height of the pandemic, when vaccines were scarce, Loretto distributed some to friends of hospital executives.

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