The U.S. Trustee for Georgia's Region 21 is asking that the bankruptcy filed by Hutcheson Medical Center be dismissed, saying the condition of the Fort Oglethorpe medical facility is too far gone to be salvaged.
Trustee Guy G. Gebhardt said HMC has picked up over $5 million in new debts since filing for bankruptcy.
He said patient care is at risk at the facility.
Trustee Gebhardt asked for an expedited hearing and that the case be dismissed.
Farrell Hayes, president and CEO of Hutcheson Medical Center, said, “Hutcheson’s medical staff and the patients themselves will be the first to tell you that our patient care fully meets the needs of this region and places the safety and comfort of our patients front and center.
“As a community hospital, we by definition make top priority the well-being of every community member that walks through our doors. We can confidently say that these recent allegations are baseless, and we look forward to discussing our case with the court. Hutcheson has been nationally accredited, awarded for its quality care and a critical healthcare partner in North Georgia for generations.”
Trustee Gebhardt said the bankruptcy case has been ongoing for over 10 months and no plan of reorganization has been filed.
The trustee stated, "Now, the debtors' own financial records indicate that the debtors are administratively insolvent and in financial extremis."
He added, "The debtors' current financial situation puts the debtors' patients at risk."
Trustee Gebhardt said the June reports from Hutcheson "indicate that the debtors have grown increasingly administratively insolvent."
He said last Thursday he asked for the hospital's post-petition accounts payable.
He was advised that the HMC accounts payable are at $912,606, professional fees are at $1,800,411, medical division accounts payable are $55,666, payroll taxes owed are $450,409, and the self-insured health plan is owed $1,787,140. The total is $5,015,000.
The trustee said last Friday the hospital ombudsman met with him "for purposes of discussing current conditions at the debtors' hospital and any risk to patients caused by the debtors' current financial strain."
He said the ombudsman "is concerned about the increased strain on the debtors' clinical lab as evidenced by increasingly tight staffing patterns, delayed supply delivery necessitating borrowing of standard items from other facilities to meet patient care needs, and analyzer equipment problems.
"For example, hospitals typically have two functioning analyzers for certain test types such as a CBC given the criticality of this equipment to patient care.
"The Patient Care Ombudsman advised the United States Trustee that currently the debtors have only one functioning analyzer for this purpose and that machine is reading periodic error codes."
Trustee Gebhardt said, "The concerns of the Patient Care Ombudsman underscore the grave condition of the debtors' operations and patient safety."
Hutcheson is also locked in a complex lawsuit with Erlanger Health System regarding a period of time that Erlanger managed Hutcheson. It involves a number of attorneys with high legal costs.
Attorneys for Hutcheson on Friday filed a new 134-page complaint asking that the Erlanger lawsuit be stayed.