Pineville (Ky.) Community Healthcare employees rallied Aug. 7 to raise awareness about the hospital's financial problems and to try to avert its closure, according to the Middlesboro Daily News.
City officials announced earlier this week that Pineville (Ky.) Community Healthcare will no longer receive city funding, partially due to auction company Tranzon's decision to delay bidding in the auctioning of the hospital.
As a result, the hospital is looking for potential buyers as it tries to stay afloat, according to the Daily News.
"I've been in this community at least for about 20 years. This hospital is essential to the community and also for the children that are growing up in this area," Velupillai Wignakumar, MD, told the newspaper. "They've got to have some kind of icon in the community. This hospital has been an icon to this community. That is one of the reasons this hospital should stay open."
Another employee, Betsy Marsee, in emergency room admissions, also discussed the importance of keeping the hospital open, specifically in terms of healthcare access.
Pineville Community Healthcare, formerly called Southeastern Kentucky Medical Center, was owned and operated by the Pineville Community Hospital Association until 2017, when it entered into an agreement with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Americore Health. The hospital association owns the hospital real estate, but other assets were sold to Americore.
The hospital has struggled to keep its doors open and lost Medicare and Medicaid funding, prompting the city to take control of it after it was seized in bankruptcy, Pineville officials said. The city in July decided to bid on the hospital "to protect the current assets and to continue to ensure the availability of quality healthcare for the general public."
But when the city found out it would not be the highest bidder and would not operate the hospital, it decided Aug. 6 to cut off its funding.
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