WELLNESS

Oklahoma hospital tries GoFundMe to keep its doors open

Meg Wingerter
Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center, pictured here in 2013, has set up a GoFundMe account to raise funds. [The Oklahoman archives]

Oklahoma City — Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center should stay open Tuesday, its CEO said, but it's far from clear that the hospital can last through Wednesday.

Frank Avignone, the hospital's CEO, said Pauls Valley needs $500,000 by the end of the week to pay overdue costs for health benefits. It needs about half of that even faster to make payroll.

“We have to have $243,000 in our bank by this afternoon,” he said when reached at about noon Monday. “If I had to stretch it until (Tuesday) morning, I think the employees would hang with me.”

The hospital won't receive any revenue for its services until it pays off its debts to NewLight Healthcare, a Texas company that managed the hospital from 2013 to early July. Avignone declined to specify how much the hospital owes, because it still is in negotiations, but NewLight claims it exceeds $2.3 million.

A GoFundMe page had raised $2,780 as of Monday afternoon. The Pauls Valley Hospital Authority also is accepting donations by phone at 405-238-5501.

The hospital had declared bankruptcy in March 2013, and closure looked imminent until NewLight took over.

The hospital still was strapped for cash in 2016, and NewLight agreed to allow Pauls Valley to pay some of its management fees late, according to court documents. It wasn't enough, however, and the hospital asked NewLight for a $1,050,000 loan in 2017. NewLight claims the hospital never repaid the loan or the management fees.

Alliance Health Partners Oklahoma, an organization headed by Avignone which also manages hospitals in Seiling and Mangum, entered into talks to buy the hospital this spring, but didn't reach a deal before NewLight lost patience. In late June, NewLight sent notice to the hospital authority that it intended to start tapping the hospital's revenues until the hospital covered its debt.

“We notified (the hospital authority) in April that the situation had become untenable for us, providing both time and options to prevent any adverse impact for patients or the community,” NewLight said in a statement. “At this time, (the hospital) and Alliance Healthcare Partners have declined to take advantage of those options, but we remain hopeful we can find a mutually agreeable solution.”

The hospital authority sued NewLight in August, claiming the company had broken its contract and caused $2 million in damages. It said NewLight had failed to maintain a workable budget, improperly lent money to employees and failed to follow federal rules, resulting in about $400,000 in penalties. NewLight denied the allegations.

The hospital authority had asked Oklahoma Western District Judge Joe Heaton for an order preventing NewLight from collecting any funds until the case ends, because the hospital could be forced to close. Heaton acknowledged the hospital could be in peril, but said if he granted the order, NewLight could end up with nothing.

Avignone isn't disputing NewLight's legal claim to the money, but says the community needs a hospital. The nearest hospitals are about 27 miles to the north or south, in Purcell and Arbuckle.

“My job that the city hired me for is to save this hospital,” he said. “It is truly one of the hospitals that has to stay open or people will lose their lives.”

The lawsuit makes Pauls Valley's situation different from some others, but it's hardly the only rural hospital facing financial trouble. Patti Davis, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, said she couldn't comment on this specific case, but rural hospitals tend to struggle with relatively low payments from Medicare and Medicaid, because relatively few people in small towns have commercial insurance.

When a hospital closes, people who worked there tend to move away, as do some older people who need frequent medical care, Davis said. Businesses also are more reluctant to open in communities without a hospital, she said.

“There is a health care domino effect,” she said.

Rural hospitals were hit particularly hard by cuts to Medicare under the Affordable Care Act, Davis said. Oklahoma could partially make up the difference by expanding Medicaid, but hasn't done that so far, she said.

“We are sending our taxpayer dollars to other states,” she said.

Any solution requiring legislative action would be far too slow for Pauls Valley's current crisis, though. For now, Avignone and the hospital's supporters are trying to drive donations through social media and hoping famous Oklahomans will give them a boost by publicizing the hospital's plight.

“We've reached out to every country music star that is from Oklahoma or has had concerts here,” he said