WABASH CO.—Not even a year after being appointed Director of the Emergency Department at Mt. Carmel’s Wabash General Hospital, Dr. Miriam Baumgart’s physician, surgeon, and controlled substance licenses have been indefinitely suspended. The suspension comes after Baumgart diverted and used multiple controlled substances from the Emergency Room while on duty as an ER physician, according to a report released by officials with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations.
Baumgart began working as a physician in Wabash General Hospital’s Emergency Room in 2009.
The news of Baumgart’s suspension comes as a shock many of the citizens of Wabash County, as well as sources close to Disclosure, who thought better of Baumgart, a Wabash County native herself.
Dr. Miriam Baumgart
Baumgart was a member of the National Honor Society and co-valedictorian of Mt. Carmel High School’s 1996 graduating class. She was also actively involved in Student Council, Key Club, Olympiad Jets, regional champion Varsity Cheerleading, and girls track throughout her high school career. Baumgart was also listed in the 1993-94 Who’s Who Among American High School Students, a publication “Honoring Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.”
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations records indicate that Baumgart is currently receiving inpatient treatment. She has voluntarily surrendered her Drug Enforcement Administration registration.
No information has been made available to Disclosure staff about what kind of controlled substances Baumgart was diverting and using.
Disclosure has been hard-pressed to gather little more than stunned disbelief when former classmates, friends and neighbors have been asked to comment on the news of Baumgart’s current troubles.