While the delay is up to one month with Community Health Systems being the lone company on the lease to run Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, bills are still getting paid and the hospital is operating as planned.
The Coahoma County Board of Supervisors voted to pay three bills to companies that have helped kept the hospital open since it was in danger of closing in November 2018 during the Feb. 20 meeting.
Trilogy Healthcare Solutions, which a consulting firm, received $22,335.07, the law firm Hunt, Ross & Allen PA received $713.12 for county attorney Tom Ross’ services, and the law firm Watkins & Eager PLLC out of Jackson, which specializes in hospitals, received $8,282.
“The hospital is not going to close,” said Board of Supervisors president Paul Pearson. “It’s going to operate. We’re going to provide healthcare for everybody that needs healthcare in this area in every shape, form or fashion.”
Curae Health Inc. was running the hospital and declared bankruptcy. However, a deal was made at a bankruptcy hearing in Nashville to keep the hospital open.
CHS took over running the hospital in December 2018 and has made all of its scheduled payments to employees, but Curae’s name has been on the lease the whole time. CHS ran the hospital before Curae and was on the lease. When Curae was unable to pay its bills, CHS had the responsibility to take over the lease.
CHS was scheduled to take over the lease at the beginning of February, but it has been delayed due to some issues that are being taken care of.
“We’re still under the bankruptcy situation so nothing is moving forward right now,” Pearson said. “It’s some negotiations as far as the bankruptcy is concerned.
“Right now, I think CHS is focused on stabilizing the hospital and trying to get it to where it will finalize the bankruptcy.”
When CHS took over running the hospital, the plan was to give the Board of Supervisors about a year to find a buyer for Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, but that has not happened yet.
“We can’t do anything until we get out of bankruptcy,” Pearson said. “We can’t do anything until CHS takes over and Curae is completely out of the picture and the bankruptcy is completely out of the picture.”
After Curae declared bankruptcy and before CHS began running the hospital, the Board of Supervisors had to spend $3,291,364.88 from the hospital reserve fund to pay employees. That came in three different payments.
Now, to pay the rent on the hospital building that was due earlier in the year, the Supervisors may have to spend $500,000 from the reserve fund. The state legislature must approve spending the $500,000 from the reserve fund and that is expected to happen in the next couple of months.
