FORT OGLETHORPE - Hutcheson Medical Center owes its employees millions of dollars that may never arrive.
Ronald Glass, a trustee who has overseen the bankrupt hospital's finances since September, said during a public hearing in Hutcheson's cafeteria Thursday the hospital has failed to cover $2.6 million worth of health insurance claims. He added that a judge will allow him to dedicate about $600,000 to making good on those unpaid bills.
Beyond that, Glass could make no promises to the employees of the community hospital that has stood since 1953.
"We would hope that we could settle those claims," Glass said. " I cannot guarantee you that I can get any additional monies."
The insurance issue, which representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor have been investigating for more than a year, came up during a hearing to determine whether Hutcheson can be sold to ApolloMD, a physicians' group from Atlanta. Hutcheson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2014 and temporarily shut its doors in December 2015.
But ApolloMD offered to manage the hospital and re-opened the doors weeks after its closure. The company also plans to buy Hutcheson outright for $4.2 million - about 5 percent of the total debt Hutcheson held when it first filed for bankruptcy.
Before ApolloMD can become the official owner, though, before the Hutcheson signs outside the building fall and the hospital becomes a privately held operation, the attorney general of Georgia has to sign off on the deal. Basically, the state's law demands that both ApolloMD and Hutcheson prove the purchase is fair.
So on Thursday, officials from Hutcheson argued that they did everything they could to get the best deal possible. Jay Jacquin, a managing director for Guggenheim Securities, said his team marketed the hospital to about 220 potential buyers. The offer from ApolloMD was simply the strongest, he said.
The attorney general's office will decide by April 30 whether Jacquin is correct, and whether the deal can go through. Members of the public can send their thoughts on the purchase to the office in Atlanta through Tuesday.
Members of the public also were invited to speak at Thursday's hearing. And that's when Tammy Cole, the former executive director of the Hutcheson Health Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the hospital, posed a series of questions.
She asked whether the team inspecting the deal had considered all the employees' health care claims the hospital had failed to pay. She also asked whether those same people had any thoughts on raises that administrative staff members received while Hutcheson was in bankruptcy.
In particular, she pointed out monthly financial reports filed with the bankruptcy court last year. In January 2015, Hutcheson COO Kevin Hopkins made $9,600. In June, he made $11,700. In August, he made $13,800.
"I have lived this now for quite some time," said Cole, a 10-year employee of the hospital who was laid off in September. "I just feel it's only fair to the employees, who I praise. The front-line employees. They kept working and kept this hospital alive even though their insurance bills are not being paid."
Julie Adams Jacobs, a senior assistant to the attorney general, told Cole that those issues were not the purpose of Thursday's hearing. The group was merely trying to figure out whether the $4.2 million purchase price was in line with market demands.
But Glass said he would try his best to answer Cole's questions. He said he couldn't comment on the raises Hopkins received during bankruptcy - those happened before Glass began overseeing the hospital's finances.
Concerning the unpaid insurance claims, Glass said he was trying to help. But he can only do so much, given that Hutcheson was $80 million in debt when it filed for bankruptcy 16 months ago, he said.
He added that the health insurance payments were not the only issues: the hospital is about $80,000 behind on retirement claims and more than $1 million behind on payroll taxes.
After Cole's questions, Catoosa County Attorney Clifton "Skip" Patty asked an ApolloMD representative whether the company had a long-term plan for the hospital.
Dr. Boykin Robinson, a division president of the company, told Patty they plan to open an additional 16 beds in the hospital next month. Another 16 beds will be available for the nursing home.
From there, he said, "We'll continue to open up more of the hospital as we see the need."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@times freepress.com or at 423-757-6476.