The embattled owner of Sacred Heart Hospital spoke out today for the first time since his April arrest on widespread federal fraud charges, denying the allegations and blaming the federal government for the shutdown of the West Side hospital. The hospital announced today that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after "temporarily" shutting down its operations on Monday after the federal agency administering Medicare cut off funding. In his statement, Edward Novak, the hospital's owner who was charged with criminal wrongdoing in April, wrote that he was prohibited from having anything to do with the hospital's operations since his arrest.
