Firm makes bid for Ellwood City Medical Center
A Florida investment firm is seeking a bankruptcy court’s approval to take control of the closed Ellwood City Medical Center in Lawrence County.
With the medical center’s assets going up for sale within a month, attorneys for West Palm Beach-based Third Friday Total Return Fund on Monday asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to schedule a hearing on its plan to take control of the Ellwood City Hospital parent, Americore Holdings, LLC, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Third Friday’s filing proposes to consolidate Americore’s debts but offers no details on its plans for Ellwood City Medical Center, and manager Mike Lewitt declined to comment on Monday.
Earlier this spring, Mr. Lewitt told the Ellwood City Ledger newspaper he was committed to reopening the medical center, including its emergency department — a long-sought goal of Ellwood City leaders.
On Monday, Mayor Anthony Court said Mr. Lewitt had not made that commitment to him, but “I hope it’s a step in the right direction,” he said of Third Friday’s bid.
“At this point, I’m looking to regain our hospital in some fashion.”
Third Friday is already a major investor in Americore, a small, for-profit network of rural, financially stressed hospitals under CEO Grant White. At one point, Americore’s holdings comprised five hospitals, most based in the South, but court filings say that has been reduced to two hospitals and the now-closed Ellwood City Medical Center, which it acquired in 2017.
Americore filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern Kentucky court on Dec. 31, a filing that now includes more than 600 filings for its various hospital properties. Among those filings are lien claims by both Ellwood City Borough and the Ellwood City School District against the medical center’s property for unpaid taxes and utility bills.
Mr. White could not be reached for comment on Monday; no one answers at Americore’s Fort Lauderdale offices, the americorehealth.com domain name has expired, and Mr. White’s Americore email account appears to be disabled.
Even if the bankruptcy judge rules favorably on Third Friday’s offer, the process of hiring staff, installing equipment and meeting state licensing requirements means it could be a long time before Ellwood City Hospital treats its next patient.
Pennsylvania Department of
Health spokesman Nate Wardle recently told the Post-Gazette any new owner would have to go through a Division of Safety Inspection plan review, submit a hospital license application and complete required licensure surveys before opening.
“This would take several months — or longer — depending on what work may be needed before occupancy could be granted.”