The fate of community hospitals in central Louisiana is uncertain after the company that owns them recently filed for for bankruptcy protection, The Town Talk reported yesterday. Avoyelles Hospital, Oakdale Community Hospital and Winn Parish Medical Center are owned by Progressive Acute Care LLC (PAC). PAC applied for chapter 11 relief on May 31, along with the subsidiary companies that manage the hospitals. The hospitals will continue to operate while the company works to solve its financial issues, which stem from a fourth hospital. For many in the communities the three Central Louisiana PAC hospitals serve, the next nearest hospital is 20-30 miles away. Several stakeholders expressed hope that a buyer for the three hospitals will step forward. PAC bought the three hospitals from Rapides Healthcare System LLC in 2009 and was incorporated in South Carolina in 2008 for the purpose of owning and operating community-based hospitals in Louisiana.
For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore.