Hutcheson Medical Center officials are seeking to put a positive spin at being left at the altar without an acceptable suitor.
The struggling Fort Oglethorpe hospital, which has some $60 million in debt, is going to stay independent and go it alone, officials said, after revealing that only two health care organizations applied to request for proposals to manage Hutcheson - Erlanger Health System and Liberty Health.
"We had hoped we would have got more [offers] than that," hospital board Chairman Corky Jewell said.
Hutcheson officials only negotiated with Erlanger and didn't pursue Liberty Health's offer, officials said.
Jewell declined to say what the shortcomings of Erlanger's offer were.
Erlanger managed Hutcheson until several months ago, but Hutcheson officials decided to part ways with the Chattanooga hospital.
In the short term, Hutcheson's board voted to ask for a $2 million loan from the three counties that created Hutcheson.
Walker County Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell held a special meeting at the end of November to announce that she is willing to back a $2 million loan from Regions Bank to keep the hospital afloat through the year's end.
"They won't make another payroll without some backing," Heiskell said. Almost 800 people representing almost that many families work at Hutcheson, she said.
Walker and Catoosa counties already have backed two loans to Hutcheson through Regions Bank totaling $6 million; an additional $2 million would bring the total to $8 million.
Heiskell said the exact loan amount that Walker is willing to back depends on support from the other two counties.
"I don't believe we will participate," Catoosa County Commission Chairman Keith Greene said at 6 p.m. Nov. 25 at the start of one of the hospital board's meetings.
Dade County officials weren't immediately available after the Hutcheson board meeting ended at 10 p.m. But in the past Dade County has excluded itself from backing hospital loans.
The hospital board asked Catoosa and Dade counties to hold special meetings the following Wednesday to vote on the $2 million loan.
Long-term, Hutcheson will take steps to make the hospital more efficient, Jewell said, though he declined to elaborate.
Also, a lender may help, Jewell said in a news release issue after the meeting ended.
"We are pleased that a major lender is working with Hutcheson to identify the best long-term solution for keeping Hutcheson an independent entity," the statement read. "We are strengthened by the support and encouraged about our future."