Two bankrupt Maine hospitals have warned that they could both have to close their doors by the end of June if they don’t receive funding through a federal loan program meant to help small businesses keep their staff employed through the coronavirus crisis, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported. Both Calais Regional Hospital and Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln have been denied access to the Paycheck Protection Program because its rules disqualify entities that have filed for bankruptcy protection from receiving funds. But in separate lawsuits filed this week as part of their chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, both hospitals argued that those rules are unlawful because they’re not in the federal legislation that originally created the program last month. The two hospitals are now facing steep revenue shortfalls after following state and federal guidance to delay elective and outpatient services during the pandemic, even though those types of services bring in large portions of their revenue, according to their legal complaints.
