As Pishkur leaves, Northside gets reprieve

By Don Shilling

The agreement called for the resignation of Forum Health’s CEO.

HOWLAND — An agreement between Forum Health and its creditors takes Northside Medical Center in Youngstown off the critical list for survival — at least temporarily.

A deal to deactivate a termination plan for the Youngstown hospital is part of a larger agreement between the Mahoning Valley-based hospital system and its lenders to work together on an operating plan for the entire system.

That plan, however, will not include Walter “Buzz” Pishkur as president and chief executive.

Pishkur resigned from the posts Monday and immediately became a consultant for the system, which is in bankruptcy. An interim CEO is to be named.

Forum’s lenders asked that Pishkur step down, Vince Bevacqua, a spokesman for Forum, said at a news conference at Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital here.

Had the Northside termination plan been enacted, it would have led to the sale or closing of the Youngstown hospital. Forum had developed the plan as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Instead, the two sides agreed to work on a reorganization plan.

“This resolution provides a clear pathway for an exit from bankruptcy,” Bevacqua said.

He declined to discuss the likelihood of Forum exiting bankruptcy with all three of its hospitals — Northside, Hillside Hospital in Howland and Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren.

“How this system will look is still in the planning stages. No one can say how this system will look in six months,” Bevacqua said.

Creditors had said previously that they favored dropping Northside because it is losing money and draining resources from the rest of the system.

Bevacqua said there is no timetable for developing the reorganization plan.

He said all objections that the creditors have raised in court have been resolved, including their request for a trustee to be appointed to oversee the system.

Instead, Forum’s board of directors has agreed to hire a CEO with health-care experience.

Pishkur was president of Aqua Ohio, which provides water service in the area, when he agreed to take the Forum job last September. Pishkur also had been president of the Forum board.

Pishkur said in a statement, “I am confident this hospital system is now trending in the right direction financially.”

The board released a statement that Pishkur’s leadership “was key to bringing the organization through a very difficult time, providing both hope and vision for the future.”

An interim CEO is expected to be in place by the end of this month. Bevacqua said Pishkur, as a consultant, has knowledge and experience about Forum that he can pass along to the interim CEO.

Bevacqua said he didn’t have any details on Pishkur’s compensation as a consultant. The position is to be temporary, Bevacqua said.

A permanent CEO will be selected after a plan for reorganization is filed with the bankruptcy court, he said.

shilling@vindy.com