HICKSVILLE, Ohio —
Community Memorial Hospital in Defiance County officially closed its doors on Saturday.
The hospital temporarily suspended services in May due to financial issues, according to former Community Memorial CEO Bill Cherry.
Cherry said the hospital was struggling to recover after entering a fraudulent laboratory agreement in 2016. He said the hospital was ordered to pay back $25 million to insurance companies.
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Cherry said that deal, along with issues with a new electronic system and two cyberattacks in the past year, left the hospital with a lot of liabilities and a lot of money owed.
"The likelihood of being able to pay those without going through some financial restructuring was not highly likely," he said.
Cherry said the hospital tried to pursue a Chapter 9 bankruptcy reorganization, but this request was denied. He said leadership also reached out to other providers to take over the hospital, which also came up short.
"Due to the liabilities and the risk that was associated with those to them, there was no interest in going down that road," Cherry said.
Hospital leadership decided to go to court for a potential receivership to appoint a new owner. The hospital officially closed on Saturday and is now in the hands of Ronald Winters, co-founder and principal of Gibbins Advisors.
Cherry said the building and the equipment will be sold and most of the staff has had to find other jobs.
He said one of the hardest parts is the impact on the community.
"They are going to have to drive 30 miles or more to receive care," Cherry said. "There are a lot of elderly people within the community and a lot of them don't drive or don't like to drive, so, it makes it a challenge to go and get their healthcare services."
Cherry said the hospital has been working with the village administration throughout the process and that there has been an increase in the number of runs that EMS services are doing. He said with the farther transport distances, there are additional resources needed in order to fill the gap because of the hospital's closure.
Cherry said there are still a few people employed by the hospital who are assisting with billing and medical records.
Cherry said this is not the outcome that was wanted, but unfortunately what was determined to be best.
"I guess it's a reality where there's not always a perfect outcome to the situation and this is one of those circumstances where we didn't have the perfect outcome we desired," he said.