Texas hospital abruptly closes after failing to make payroll

Weimar (Texas) Medical Center shut down Nov. 25, and the future of the facility is uncertain.

WMC employees are paid on a bi-weekly basis, and paychecks were due to them Nov. 25. However, the hospital failed to make payroll due to financial troubles, forcing the facility to cease services, according to The Colorado County Citizen.

WMC Administrator and President Irving Sawyers Jr. told The Colorado Citizen that after the hospital failed to make payroll there was not enough staff available to treat potential patients. Mr. Sawyers said he became aware of the payroll issue when his check wasn't deposited into his account.

Before WMC closed its doors Nov. 25, the 38-bed hospital's only inpatient was discharged and emergency room patients were treated and discharged, according to the report.

Mr. Sawyers told The Colorado Citizen the hospital would reopen once it regained its financial footing. As of last week, Mr. Sawyers hoped the hospital would be back in service by Dec. 2. However, as of Tuesday the hospital was still closed.

WMC is owned by Price Family Capital Partners, and a sign on the door to the hospital indicates the Anaheim, Calif.-based investment firm is selling the facility. 

"Reinstatement of all suspended services is intended as soon as possible after the completion of the acquisition process," the sign reads. "The acquisition will allow for physician and personnel staffing of the emergency department and the full hospital targeted for Dec. 12, 2016." 

Although no details about the acquisition have been released, Mr. Sawyers told a group of WMC employees Nov. 28 that he had met with some undisclosed investors who were interested in buying the facility, according to The Colorado Citizen.

Mr. Sawyers didn't immediately respond to Becker's request for comment. According to a crowdfunding page created for WMC employees, the hospital had not made payroll as of Tuesday.

This isn't the first time Weimar's hospital has experienced financial troubles. Colorado-Fayette Medical Center in Weimar filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2012. Price Family Capital Partners reopened the facility in 2015 and renamed it Weimar Medical Center.

More articles on healthcare finance:

CHI records $483M operating loss as labor costs grow, patient volume declines
Oklahoma hospital explores bankruptcy
Oregon health system to close women's clinic over staffing issues

 



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