Area native submits high bid for home

The sale is subject to approval in a Nov. 29 bankruptcy court hearing.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- "It feels good to come home again," said Al Vrable, moments after becoming the apparent successful bidder for the bankrupt Carrington South Healthcare Center Inc. at 850 E. Midlothian Blvd.
Vrable, who already owns four nursing homes with more than 1,000 employees in Ohio, bid 7,050,000 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday, outlasting four other companies interested in the 149-bed Carrington nursing home. Vrable bid through his company, Vrable Landholding Youngstown LLC of Cleveland.
He lives in Columbus but grew up in Campbell and has fond memories of playing basketball in the basement of the Carrington facility as a young man when the building was known as the Slovak Catholic Sokol Center.
He graduated from Youngstown State University and earned a degree in pharmacy from Ohio State University, and now nursing homes are his main business, he said.
His purchase of Carrington South is subject to bankruptcy court approval in a hearing set for 10 a.m. Nov. 29 before Judge Kay Woods.
Interim management
The nursing home filed for bankruptcy protection in October, and Judge Woods allowed the facility to continue operating under interim management while it was put up for bid.
That interim management contract ends Nov. 30, and Vrable will have to pick up the 350,000 estimated monthly cost of operations to keep the facility open until the sale can be closed.
Those expenses will come off the purchase price, said Atty. Andrew Suhar, representing Carrington South.
Carrington's creditors include General Electric Capital Corp. which holds a 4.2 million mortgage on the property; the IRS, which is owed more than 3 million in payroll taxes; and the state of Ohio, which is owed about 2.5 million in payroll taxes, workers' compensation premiums, franchise fees and Medicaid overpayments.
Two Carrington employees were interested spectators during Monday's auction.
They wanted to see who was buying the place and to be sure they will still have jobs, said Devetia Miller of Youngstown, a nurses assistant with 16 years of service at the nursing home.
Ruth Redding of Youngstown, a nurses assistant with 15 years of service, said one of the main concerns of employees and clients is that the facility remain open.
The clients shouldn't have to move, she said, noting some of them have lived there as long as she's worked there.
"We care about them. They're just like our family," Redding said. "They're very aware. They're very worried."
Miller and Redding are members of Service Employees International Union Local 1199, and their contract with Carrington expired Oct. 31. However, it was extended as a result of the bankruptcy, they said.
The court has indicated that the successful buyer of the nursing home has to assume and deal with existing employee contracts.
The other bidders for the property were: 850 E. Midlothian LLC of Youngstown, CPAS Management Group LLC of Youngstown, Hunter Management LLC of Evanston, Ill., and Windsor House Inc. of Girard.
The opening base bid on the property was 4,250,000 by Windsor House, and bids increased by 50,000 increments until no one bid against Vrable's last offer.
gwin@vindy.com