Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha has filed a motion in Providence County Superior Court to hold Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings in contempt for a refusal to comply with a court order to pay $17 million in unpaid bills to hospital vendors.
"We have complied with the judge’s order and do not understand the Attorney General’s motion," a spokesperson for Prospect said in a statement shared with Becker's.
Providence, R.I.-based CharterCare Health Partners, part of Prospect, owns and operates two Rhode Island hospitals: Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, R.I.
Prospect was given 10 days to pay the outstanding bills for the hospitals on June 12.
"[M]y office has not received sufficient evidence that Prospect has indeed paid its outstanding invoices, in defiance of the Court, and defiance of its moral obligation to operate Fatima and Roger Williams hospitals in a manner that does not jeopardize patient care," Mr. Neronha said in a July 12 release.
News of Mr. Neronha's motion comes after Prospect received approval from the Rhode Island department of health and Mr. Neronha to sell its two state hospitals with multiple requirements needing to be met from each party.
Prospect also recently revealed in a June 27 court document that the Justice Department had opened a civil investigation into the hospital chain on Nov. 3.
"The motion for contempt is subject to a confidentiality order issued by the Court pertaining to the proceedings in this enforcement matter," the July 12 release said. "The motion will undergo a confidentiality review before it is made publicly available."