A federal bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of Stokes County’s (N.C.) hospital and other medical facilities for $400,000 to a for-profit organization with limited experience running hospitals, the Winston-Salem Journal reported today. An affiliate of LifeBrite Hospital Group LLC of Lilburn, Ga., has been running the Stokes facilities since July 9 — three days before the Stokes Board of Commissioners said it would stop paying for the hospital’s financial commitments. Commissioners agreed to transfer the lease for the medical facilities to Life-Brite. LifeBrite has agreed to takeover $1.3 million in Medicare and Medicaid payment obligations from for-profit Pioneer Health Services, which filed for chapter 11 protection on March 31. Pioneer entered bankruptcy with seven other hospitals under its umbrella in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia. The Stokes medical facilities altogether have about 200 employees. The court set a closing date of Jan. 31 for the Stokes transaction. Read more.
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