The efforts to reopen the former Audrain County Hospital by its new owners has hit a major snag and most of the workforce that’s been hired has been laid off.
About 30 people found out …
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The efforts to reopen the former Audrain County Hospital by its new owners has hit a major snag and most of the workforce that’s been hired has been laid off.
About 30 people found out last week they were losing their jobs with Ziva Medical, the new owners of the facility, including the company’s CEO Amanda Shurtz. Gary Greenstein, one of three investors in Ziva Medical, spoke with the Ledger and said it was a tough decision that had to be made.
“It was really with a very heavy heart that we had to make this difficult business decision to let them go,” Greenstein said.
Greenstein said the decision to let the staff go came down to timing. The company is currently in federal bankruptcy court and is facing two big lawsuits from Central Bank and former employees because of unpaid wages and medical insurance premiums that were not paid resulting in large medical bills by the former owners of the property, Noble Health.
The three investors believed they would have the legal problems wrapped up by the fall but when things kept dragging towards the holidays they started to become worried. Now that the issues have stretched into 2024 without the hospital opening the financial stress became too much.
“We took a risk and started hiring people at the operational level to get the operations up and running so when the bankruptcy cleared we would be able to hit the ground running,” Greenstein said. “We couldn’t make it work from a business point of view to keep them on. I feel horrible we had to lay them off.”
Greenstein admitted through all of the issues there was one point the group thought about quitting but pressed on after talking with local people. He said although things have stopped, there’s still hope the hospital will open this year.
“Even with the recent developments, the plan remains the same,” Greenstein said. “This recent hurdle we view as just another challenge to overcome.”
Greenstein said he hopes to bring back all of the people who were laid off when they get the go-ahead to open. The group's next court dates are Feb. 5 and Feb. 7 and Greenstein hopes they have answers by then. Of the 30 people who lost their jobs Greenstein said almost all of them said they would love to come back when things have settled. A small staff remains in place at the hospital doing maintenance and security.
“I’m definitely hoping to bring them back sooner rather than later,” Greenstein said.
