The past couple of years have been very tense for the Community Memorial Hospital administration and board of directors. In fact when the board resigned en masse at the opening of 2024, many faculty of CMH saw that sign as a time to find employment elsewhere, of which many did. There were several like Dr. Reddy, Dr. Hagerty, Sr. Sroa, and Samantha Kimpel continued to serve their patients in the medical offices on the Hicksville campus.
Official closure was the end of August 2024 with Gibbins Advisors being appointed by the Defiance County Common Pleas Court as the Receiver for the hospital. Gibbins Advisors will oversee all accounts payable to the hospital in attempts to assist in the restructuring activities of the facility and its assets. Gibbins believed a chapter 9 bankruptcy would enable delivery of the assets and operations to a buyer without liabilities. A chapter 9 required consent from the [Ohio Tax Commission] which it would not provide. Gibbins, the hospital and OPERS felt a Receivership may be able to simulate the bankruptcy benefits from a transaction perspective.
The case brought before the Defiance County court named Ohio Public Employees Pension System, as the Plaintiff. Ron Winters, of Gibbins Advisors, stated that the distribution of funds recovered by the Receiver is for the Court to decide. The OPERS Receivership motion asserts claims on Receivership assets and proceeds.
Gibbins Advisors are exploring various avenues of sale in attempts to settle the debts of CMH including, “the sale of the assets in individual components or a combined sale of all or most of the assets. Several entities have expressed an interest in a purchase of all or most of the assets. If we are able to achieve that, it may reduce complexity, be faster and result in a more favorable outcome for the Receivership estate. Such a transaction would be made public, include notice to creditors and require court approval. We can’t be sure a purchase by a healthcare entity will occur, so we are “dual-tracking” by exploring sales of individual assets.” stated Winters.
There is a 90 day deadline to complete this receivership process, but Winters expects to file for an extension with with Court. According to the Order set forth by the Court, the Receivership will be executed in two Phases (if necessary) – first to secure the assets of the Defendant (Mark Milford Hospital District), the hospital, the receivership assets under the terms of the Order, and as Gibbins is evaluating the hospital’s operations, and decide if it can be sold and if it is found to not be viable to sell, then the 2nd Phase will commence. This involves the receiver taking steps to liquidate the assets as set forth in the Order of the courts.
Things may be moving along for Gibbins in their reorganizations and restructuring but for former employees of CMH they are just hanging in the balance. Since the release of the news that a Receivership was appointed, past employees of CMH have voiced their concern and disappointment at the situation through means of social media.
Formerly CMH employee, Jessica Sleesman-Vitt RN, MSN shared this with West Bend News, “Although it was very evident that CMH had financial troubles before CEO Roy Davis joined, he brought CMH to its demise. Without realization, our insurance premiums and OPERS payments were being taken out of our check and being used elsewhere. This became evident in mid-late 2023 when we (employees) were receiving medical bills for things that should have been covered. For example, I had a Wellness appointment Jan 2023 with our “new” insurance and then got a bill for it. All wellness appointments are covered once a year with all insurances. We then learned the OPERS was behind. Many criminal acts have occurred and no one has been held responsible. It’s heartbreaking because our CMH family was torn apart. Most of us have dispersed to other nearby hospitals. Some employees are worried about ability to retire soon. I think of the older women who worked in our cafeteria. I’m sure Roy doesn’t think about them and if they were able to find another job. There are too many lies to count. We were made to believe things were being done to fix everything. A few former coworkers of mine were being sent to collections over medical bills that were $30,000+ due to surgeries, ER visits, inpatient stays that were needed while they thought they had insurance but didn’t. We wanted to stay for the community but financially a lot of us couldn’t. People need financial stability. We just want people to be held accountable. We hear that the receivership will help our retirement get paid up. As for medical bills getting paid, I think you have to get a lawyer and sue. Depending on what you owe, makes it worth it or not to pay for a lawyer for this. And many ex-employees have hundreds of PTO/vacation time hours that were promised to be paid out.”
