An investigator has reported to a Georgia licensing agency that patients at Hutcheson Medical Center can "or soon will be" hurt in some way as the result of the hospital's bankruptcy case.
Susan Goodman, the court-appointed ombudsman for Hutcheson's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, said Hutcheson's lack of funds creates a significant chance that patients will be "adversely affected."
Goodman cited "the abrupt layoffs and service line closures, the near (immediate jeopardy) staffing concerns that were anticipated and averted at the nursing home, the unclear status of pulmonology patient and (emergency department) specialist support," among other issues.
Goodman filed her report Monday. The next day, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Paul Bonapfel ordered the trustee on the case to address Goodman's report during a court hearing this Friday.
Hutcheson Medical Center filed for bankruptcy last November, when the hospital was about $80 million in debt. Hospital administrators laid off 58 employees in September, then another about 70 employees in October. They also closed their intensive care unit, outpatient services, main hospital operative services and two medical clinics.
Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., is seen on Oct. 21."Notably and repeatedly commented on by staff," Goodman wrote in her report, "no senior leadership were cut with these layoffs."
Hutcheson CEO Farrell Hayes on Tuesday said that the three counties served by Hutcheson - Catoosa, Walker and Dade - have 50,000 indigent and Medicaid residents.
"If Hutcheson closes, they will have very, very, very limited access to health care," Hayes said.
"As long as I'm breathing, I'll fight anyone for Hutcheson," he added. "Hutcheson is needed."
But staff members told Goodman that a clinic closed on Oct. 15, but nobody announced it until somebody put a note on the door on Oct. 19. At least five times, they said, patients went to the clinic, only to find the doors locked.
Goodman wrote that the hospital's chief medical officer also resigned, citing "accelerated stress on staff, deficit of supplies, and overall morale."
On Hutcheson's campus on Battlefield Parkway, those still on staff are now working four days a week. Some employees told the ombudsman that this cut in pay caused more stress, especially considering that the hospital has not paid health insurance claims.
"One staff member reported being told her insurance was inactive," Goodman wrote, "essentially leaving her family member uncovered for a recent surgery."
Goodman also hinted that hospital administrators are trying to intimidate employees to conceal the truth about the hospital's environment.
"Staff layoffs were not reported through leadership," Goodman wrote. "This visit, the staff reported being instructed not to speak with (me)."
Contact Staff Writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.