Southwest Regional Medical Center closes

Georgetown, Ohio-based Southwest Regional Medical Center has closed its doors with little notice after being unable to make payroll due to an adverse legal judgment, according to a Times Gazette report.

The CIT Group sued SWRMC after the hospital allegedly failed to make lease payments on an MRI machine owned by CIT. The debt dated back to when SWRMC was owned by the county, which sold the hospital in 2011.

Last August, the court ruled in favor of CIT Group and ordered the hospital to pay more than $810,000, according to the report.

Since the judgment was entered, SWRMC had made no effort to pay the judgment, and CIT Group requested the court allow it to garnish the hospital's bank account to satisfy the judgment. On Sept. 25, a judge granted CIT Group's motion, and approximately $180,000 was taken out of the hospital's account the next day.

Due to the garnishment, SWRMC had to shut down on Sept. 26, when the hospital was unable to meet its $500,000 bimonthly payroll, according to the report.

The hospital had 15 full-time physicians, 60 registered nurses, four licensed practice nurses and eight part-time RNs.

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