Attorneys involved in the lawsuit between Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga and Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe said they are poring over thousands of pages of documents, and the discovery process is going to take longer than anticipated.
The attorneys earlier were aiming to have discovery completed by Nov. 20.
The new goal is April 2016.
Attorneys, in a joint motion, told Federal Judge Harold Murphy of Rome, Ga., that the original plan was to have the documents produced by July 20, then finish the depositions by the Nov. 20 deadline.
However, the document production process is still ongoing, though Erlanger earlier produced 196,563 pages and then sent another 35,000 pages related to former HMC officials Roger Forgey, Debbie Reeves and Scott Radeker. HMC has come up with 14,079 pages, and it has retrieved over 25,000 pages from its former attorneys, Morris, Manning and Martin and consultant GB Health Management.
HMC is reviewing the Forgey, Reeves, Radeker documents and the Morris, Manning and Martin and GB Health Management papers to see if it deems there are any attorney-client privilege issues.
That process is due to be completed by Oct. 20 under the proposed new timetable.
Attorneys said thus far they have identified over 40 individuals whose depositions need to be taken prior to a trial of the case involving a dispute over Erlanger management of Hutcheson after it encountered serious financial difficulties.
The motion says Tom Weldon Jr., the attorney for the Hospital Authority of Walker, Catoosa and Dade counties, is a state representative from Ringgold and will be tied up with his legislative duties for the first three months of 2016.
Erlanger sued Hutcheson after it was not repaid over $20 million it contributed during the management period. HMC counter-sued Erlanger, saying the Erlanger management made the fiscal situation worse.
Erlanger is represented by attorneys Karen Bragman, Edward Marshall and Jennifer Shelfer of Atlanta. HMC is represented by attorneys David Burkoff, Rachel Young Fields and Kate Lawson of Savannah.