The Massillon City Council was expected to vote on whether to approve a new operator for the shuttered Massillon, Ohio-based Affinity Medical Center Sept. 10; however, in an unexpected development, city officials postponed the vote because they received a better offer, according to IndeOnline.
Here are six things to know:
1. Affinity Medical Center, a 156-bed hospital, closed in February. Since then, city officials have been fielding proposals from companies looking to reopen it. The city reviewed six proposals and early last September and selected Knoxville, Tenn.-based Paramount Matrix Healthcare to bring a hospital back to Massillon.
2. The city council was scheduled to vote on hiring Paramount Matrix at its meeting Sept. 10.
3. Councilman Paul Manson announced during the meeting that another group was back in the running to operate the facility. The company re-entering the process is one of the six companies that originally submitted a proposal.
4. The company's new proposal is better than what was offered by Paramount Matrix, Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry said, according to
5. The mayor declined to name the company back in the running or the details of its revised bid.
6. Paramount Matrix's offer was to lease the hospital, which would be renamed Massillon Regional Medical Center, for five years at a cost of $50,000 per month. In addition, Paramount Matrix would pay the city $1 million to make up for what it spent on facility maintenance while it was closed.