Leaders of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.-based Hutcheson Medical Center are trying to move toward an auction sale of the hospital, according to the Times Free Press.
"In light of [the hospital's] lack of liquidity, it is imperative that the debtors' assets be sold as expeditiously as possible," attorney Hayden Kepner Jr. wrote in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court motion Tuesday, according to the report.
Mr. Kepner asked the bankruptcy court judge to sign an order permitting the Hospital Authority for Walker, Dade and Catoosa counties to schedule and auction for the hospital. The judge will hold a hearing Oct. 21.
Hutcheson Medical Center leaders would hold two auctions, with the first including bids for different hospital assets. According to Mr. Kepner's motion, the hospital's main campus, nursing home, surgery center and clinics could be sold off in parts to different bidders. The Dade County government bought Hutcheson's clinic in Trenton, Ga., in September, according to the report.
In the second auction, bidders would offer to purchase all of the assets in one bundle. Along with the hospital leaders, a court-appointed trustee, a group of creditors and a Regions Bank official would decide whether it is best to sell the hospital assets separately or as a whole.
Mr. Kepner's motion notes the group is already negotiating with "one or more definitive" bidders," according to the report.
Hutcheson Medical Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2014, when the hospital owed by $82 million, including approximately $26 million of secured debt, most of which will go back to Regions Bank. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System, which loaned Hutcheson Medical Center $20 million in 2011, also expects its money to be paid back because Catoosa and Walker county officials guaranteed the loan, according to the report.