Bankrupt Hutcheson Medical Center promised last week to eventually pay Walker County, Ga., millions, but legal experts say that promise is worthless, the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press reported today. With almost 800 creditors waiting for about $80 million from Hutcheson, the bankrupt hospital's governing body issued a promissory note on March 25 pledging $4.6 million to Walker County. Floating in chapter 11 bankruptcy, Hutcheson cannot promise to make a new payment like this one. But Bobby Guy, former co-chair of ABI’s Health Care Committee, said that the note is legal because it's not coming from the hospital; it's coming from the Hospital Authority of Walker, Catoosa and Dade Counties. The hospital authority is Hutcheson's governing body, and technically, it's not in bankruptcy. To pay off the note, the authority would need money from the hospital. Jessica Dawn Gabel, a Georgia State law professor, said that other hospital creditors lined up ahead of Walker County would likely object in court.
