Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.The legal briefs keep piling up in the battle over millions of dollars exchanged between two area public hospitals.
Chattanooga-based Erlanger Health System filed suit early this year in U.S. District Court in Rome, Ga., to be repaid more than $22 million, including interest, it lent to Hutcheson Medical Center during the two years it managed the financially struggling hospital based in Fort Oglethorpe.
Hutcheson filed the 25th document in the case Wednesday, a 41-page counterclaim in which it argued, once again, that it doesn’t owe Erlanger any money because Erlanger didn’t live up to the terms of its management agreement.
“The damages resulting from Erlanger’s mismanagement of Hutcheson should offset any indebtedness,” reads a claim submitted by the law firm of former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes.
Erlanger spokeswoman Pat Charles couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.