Odessa Regional Medical Center’s parent company is entering bankruptcy and plans to sell all of its hospitals including ORMC but ORMC and its associated clinics remain open.
Both ORMC and Scenic Mountain Medical Center in Big Spring are owned by Steward Health Care.
Steward Health Care officials detailed plans to sell off all its hospitals after announcing it filed for bankruptcy protection.
The Dallas-based company, which operates more than 30 hospitals nationwide, said it does not expect any interruptions in its hospitals’ day-to-day operations, which the company said will continue in the ordinary course throughout the Chapter 11 process.
In court filings, the company said that beginning in late January, Steward initiated what it described as a “phased marketing process” for the sale of its hospital facilities.
“Presently, the company is marketing all of its hospitals,” the company said in a filing Tuesday.
Steward filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday. In a news release, company officials said Steward took the step to let it continue to provide needed care to patients, the Associated Press reported.
Odessan Stacey Brown, president of both Odessa Regional and Scenic Mountain, in a news release said both ORMC and Scenic Mountain have served the region for almost 50 years. “Our hospitals and clinics remain open and ready to take care of our patients, both locally and in the surrounding region. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process. It is important to remember that our commitment to excellence in patient care remains unwavering, both today and always,” Brown stated in the news release.
Russell Tippin, president and CEO of Medical Center Hospital, said the county hospital has received lots of questions and confusion regarding the status of Steward Health and Odessa Regional Medical Center.
“We want to make clear that this does not affect Medical Center Hospital as we are two entirely different entities. We are a public, not-for-profit, hospital district with support from local sales and property tax, overseen by a Board of Directors locally elected. We empathize with our friends down the street at ORMC as they navigate a corporate issue that is completely out of their hands. We will continue to support and pray for our friends down the street at ORMC, and will assist with patient care if necessary to make sure the health needs of West Texans are taken care of.”
Steward said it is finalizing the terms of “debtor-in-possession financing” from its landlord Medical Properties Trust for initial funding of $75 million and “up to an additional $225 million upon the satisfaction of certain conditions.”
“Steward Health Care has done everything in its power to operate successfully in a highly challenging health care environment,” Dr. Ralph de la Torre, CEO of Steward said in a news release.
He pointed in part to what he described as insufficient reimbursement by government payers as a result of decreasing rates at a time of skyrocketing costs.
