Three former senior surgical-services managers at OSF Saint Anthony in Rockford, Illinois, have filed an 18-page whistleblower lawsuit alleging serious patient-safety failures and retaliation inside the hospital. The plaintiffs, Sophia Gudino, Tina Peppers, and Sindemon Profit, say they repeatedly raised concerns about dangerous practices, but hospital leaders ignored them and prioritized financial and professional interests over safety.
According to the complaint, the alleged incidents included two neurosurgeons leaving an anesthetized patient on the operating table for about an hour on February 3, 2025, and another neurosurgeon leaving a sedated patient unattended for 37 minutes in April 2025 to attend a meeting, with no other doctor in the room. The suit also says that on October 12, 2023, a surgeon was seen falling asleep on the surgical microscope during an operation, even after one of the plaintiffs warned management that the doctor had been working too many hours and was exhausted.
The women allege broader misconduct in the operating rooms, including excessive and unethical billing because charges were based on time spent in surgery, the use of unapproved equipment, breaches of sterility protocols, and bullying of nurses. They say that after reporting the issues through proper channels, they were labeled problematic, stripped of authority, excluded from meetings, and told to stop filing reports.
One plaintiff says regional CEO August J. Querciaagrossa told her directly, “We cannot afford to lose any surgeon.” The plaintiffs say they were forced to resign in 2025 because of a hostile work environment and are seeking damages for retaliation against workers who report safety hazards. OSF Saint Anthony declined to comment. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the case is being brought under Illinois whistleblower protections rather than as individual patient claims.
