Erlanger: Pay us now ... or pay us now “Big, big problem:” Erlanger demands $1 million every 90 days
Walker County is expected to pay Erlanger Hospital $1 million over the next 27 months.
Walker County Commissioner Shannon Whitfield informed a crowd in Rossville Thursday, Aug. 31, that Erlanger Hospital had called him Thursday morning, Aug. 30, saying all negotiations were off the table and the county must pay Erlanger $1 million every 90 days until the $8.7 million debt to the hospital is paid.
Walker County was recently ordered to pay Erlanger $8.7 million plus interest and attorneys’ fees to cover its portion of a 2011 loan to keep Hutcheson Medical Center open.
“This is a real problem, folks,” Whitfield said to the Wilson Road Neighborhood Group meeting at Mission Glen Baptist Church on Thursday night, Aug. 31, in Rossville.
Whitfield said this is a debt he inherited from the previous administration.
“We are all in this together and there is not a silver bullet to solve this problem,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said after many attempts to negotiate with Erlanger to settle the debt, Erlanger is not budging and wants the $8.7 million amount due.
“They want a check every 90 days for $1 million,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said he offered Erlanger $7.5 million paid out over three years, equaling $625,000 per quarter paid out of the Public Health Facility Service fee.
“Within one hour and one minute, they emailed back the county attorney and said, “no,” Whitfield said. “And they said, ‘oh, by the way,’ in this email, ‘August 30th’ which was yesterday, ‘if we don’t have this settlement, you don’t verify what you are going to do, all offers are off the table.’ They called this morning to let us know all offers are off the table,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said in September, Erlanger will take the commissioner back to federal court because they want a jury trial to prove that the county owes them not only $8.7 million, but also $180,000 in attorney fees plus interest and penalties.
“So, basically, what they are trying to do is they’re trying to run that number back up to $10 million,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said the county asked for a 30-day extension to try to work the situation out, but Erlanger’s legal team in Atlanta sent the county a document for a 60-day extension on Friday, Aug. 25, only if Whitfield will sign a consent order for the $180,000 legal fees.
Whitfield said he decided to “take his chances,” because he “is spending your money.”
Whitfield believes the county would receive a 50/50 shot during a jury trial.
“If I just sign the order, you know, we are just up the creek,” he said. “So, our county budget for a year is like $23-$24 million in the general fund. They are wanting almost 50 percent of what our annual budget is and they want that in nine quarters, $1 million at a time.”