Staff photo / Ron Selak
John A. Guarnieri, president of Warren City Hospital Inc., the nonprofit formed to purchase the assets and operate Trumbull Regional Medical Center, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital and a satellite Steward Health Care facility in Cortland, talks Thursday about plans to keep those facilities open now that Steward Health has issued closure notices. To Guarnieri’s left is Warren Mayor Doug Franklin and to the right is Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy. In the background are physicians from Trumbull Regional.

WARREN — Sometime in the next 48 hours, the group of local officials trying to save Steward Health Care facilities in Trumbull County from closing expect to file with a U.S. bankruptcy court a financial plan to keep the hospitals open.

They estimate it’s going to take an initial investment of between $20 million and $30 million to acquire Trumbull Regional Medical Center, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital and certain satellite facilities in Cortland and keep them operational for at least 90 days, but admit they’re short on funds to fully execute the plan.

So that’s why they’re stepping up their effort, critically important, they said, in light of Steward Health filing motions in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to close the facilities no later than Sept. 20.

“What happened here is not a result of the hospital, its doctors or staff. This rests 100% on the backs of Steward Health,” Warren Mayor Doug Franklin said. “Over the past year or so, the hospital board (and) hospital leaders have engaged in discussions with local leaders and philanthropists to find a solution to continue to provide high-quality health care to our communities and continue with a wonderful medical education program.”

Wednesday’s legal maneuver hastened the efforts of the coalition, made up of elected officials, community and business leaders and others, including Warren City Hospital Inc., the nonprofit formed to purchase the assets and operate the hospitals.

“The early effort was to create awareness and a sense of urgency,” within the community, business community and philanthropic organizations, said John A. Guarnieri, president of Warren City Hospital. “And here we are X number of months later and we are at a sense of urgency where we need everybody’s support.”

The group, some members of which spoke to the media Thursday afternoon, also plans to file an objection to Steward Health’s closure notice.

Planning and developing a strategy to acquire and operate the hospitals with a “potential well-known affiliate” that’s a qualified health care provider have been ongoing, said Franklin, who could not disclose the name of the affiliate.

“Make no mistake about it, we are pressing forward,” he said. “We’re just pushing our foot on the pedal so we can move it a lot faster and stave off this closure petition.”

The $30 million figure is on the high end, according to Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy. It’s estimated to cost between $3 million and $5 million to acquire the assets and $7 million to $9 million is needed per month to operate the facilities.

“There is a plan that has been put together by an advisory group. We’ve got people, lawyers, professionals on this that are brokering the deal through bankruptcy court and through Steward and through this group,” Malloy said.

However, Guarnieri said it’s difficult to pinpoint how far short the funding was Thursday.

“It’s a moving number,” he said.

As far as sustaining the facilities long-term, Guarnieri what’s key is the group isn’t trying to buy the land, but negotiate with Steward Health’s landlord, Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust, on new lease agreements.

“We are going to be able to negotiate some favorable terms early on that will be critical to our cash flow,” he said. “Long-term though, from a capital standpoint, we need money to operate the system early on, we do need to make facilities improvements long-term and thirdly, we need to replace equipment. Those are the three big pieces that need to be undertaken, but the initial cash crunch is what we are trying to accomplish initially.”

State officials and U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance have been engaged in the process, too.

“The main point simply is we’re not done. Despite the announcement yesterday (Wednesday), there will be continuing, ongoing efforts to find the capital support we need to make this operation a go long-term,” Guarnieri said. We only have days to make it happen … but we will continue to push ahead.”

CLOSURE NOTICE

According to Steward Health, the decision to shutter the local facilities comes despite exhaustive efforts to sell or transition them to new operators, but the company hasn’t received actionable offers.

During a court hearing Thursday, an attorney for Steward Health said the closure notices were filed because Steward Health had to file them. In addition to Trumbull Regional and Hillside, the notices apply to multiple satellite facilities in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

“We are now six weeks beyond the bid deadline for the first round hospitals and we don’t want to have any binding agreements with any third-party and the hospitals do sustain significant losses, so it was the responsible thing for the debtors to do for all stakeholders because the debtors do not have the cash to support the hospitals,” Candace Arthur said.

Steward Health’s hospitals in Ohio and Pennsylvania were among the first-round hospitals in bankruptcy filings.

The company also owns Sharon Regional Medical Center in Sharon, Pa. There is an intense effort underway in the Commonwealth, too, to avoid Sharon Regional closing.

Arthur said Steward Health is in “active discussions with multiple parties” in connection to Trumbull Regional and Hillside.

“We are doing everything that we can to save the hospitals to the extent necessary and to the extent we’re able, so despite the closure notice we are still very, very active in pursuing saving these hospitals,” Arthur said. “The debtors will transact on actionable offers … the notice is what the notice is, it’s what we had to do to be responsible.”

“It’s not meant to chill any discussion or stop the progress when it comes to potentially saving the hospitals in Ohio,” she said.

A spokesperson for MPT issued the following statement late Thursday afternoon:

“MPT has brought solutions to the table that would enable Steward’s hospitals in Ohio and Pennsylvania to remain open, including new lease terms with multiple high-quality prospective operators. Steward alone is responsible for the closure of these facilities as bidders were unwilling to agree to their demands around the hospital operations.”

LAYOFF NOTICES

Also Thursday, Steward Health filed mass layoff notices with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Steward Health filed three — for Trumbull Regional, impacting 765 employees; for Hillside, impacting 168 employees; and for Northside Regional Medical Center in Youngstown, where nine employees still work despite closing in 2018.

The fourth notice was filed by Steward Medical Group that impacts two employees at Hillside.