Edward Novak sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Former Sacred Heart Hospital owner Edward Novak was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered, along with his co-defendants, to forfeit nearly $10.5 million for a fraud scheme on Wednesday.

Novak was convicted of engineering a scheme in which doctors were paid tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks for sending their Medicare and Medicaid patients to Sacred Heart.

There are two completely different pictures of Novak. In one, he is a man of humble beginnings who became a hospital administrator with a deep commitment for health care for the poor and elderly. In the other, he was a hospital administrator who saw the poor and elderly as a ticket to line his pockets.

Novak says he only wanted to help people and that's one of the reasons that he bought Sacred Heart Hospital 27 years ago, on the eve of its scheduled closing. Today the hospital, which was located in an impoverished West Side neighborhood, is permanently closed.

Prosecutors say Novak cared less about his patients than he did about his bottom line, personal greed.

In a tearful 15-minute address to the judge, Novak said he never harmed anyone. He said his life's work was about people, not money, and that he valued the patients and the neighborhood his hospital served.

But before an FBI raid on the hospital two years ago, Novak expressed a different sentiment on a former colleague, wearing a wire, recorded a discussion about Sacred Heart's role in the community.

Novak was recorded saying, "[Expletive] the community. Who gives a [expletive]! Who cares about the [expletive] community? I mean, why? Who gives a [expletive]! You own the place, you do what you want with it. [Expletive] them!"

Novak said that conversation was taken out of context.

During his appearance before the judge today, Novak lamented the loss of his life's work, and that now, despite all the good he's devoted his life to, he's a convicted felon.

But there was no opportunity to ask him about another undercover recording in which he talks about bringing a doctor on board, saying, "...he's a hustler. He's a scumbucket, but he's got patients so what the hell, you know?"

When Novak and his co-defendants were first charged, the government alleged that there had been unnecessary, risky surgeries performed at Sacred Heart. The judge said Wednesday it's likely there were some unnecessary surgeries, but there's no evidence of any harm to patients. In addition to prison and a multi-million dollar forfeiture, Novak must also pay a $770,000 fine.