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Union: Forum not expecting to file reorganization plan
YOUNGSTOWN — Union leaders say Forum Health management told them Thursday that the hospital system’s lenders do not plan to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Forum Health lost the exclusive right to develop a reorganization plan when it failed to file such a plan by Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Ohio in Youngstown. Forum filed for protection under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy laws March 16.
Bankruptcy Court Judge Kay Williams on Tuesday denied Forum’s request for a 45-day extension of its exclusivity.
At the time, Walter “Buzz” Pishkur said Forum could have filed a reorganization plan but didn’t because it wanted to wait and file a plan that all of its creditors could agree upon.
Immediately after the court hearing, Atty. Heather Lennox, representing MBIA Insurance Corp., the bond insurer, said creditors would develop their own plan and would ask for implementation of a previously developed plan for the closing or sale of Northside Medical Center in Youngstown. Creditors say Northside is losing money and is draining resources from the rest of the hospital system.
However, Rob Johnson, Hospital Division director with Service Employees International Union District 1199, said Northside is paying its own way. SEIU District 1199 represents several hundred support workers at Northside.
In addition, Johnson said he took offense at the lenders’ characterization of SEIU concessions at Forum as “nothing but a Band-Aid.”
“That was a pretty hefty Band-Aid. It was life-changing for our members,” he said.
During a conference call with media Thursday afternoon, Johnson, whose SEIU represented employees at Northside, said they are “extremely disappointed” with the failure of Forum Health to demonstrate that Northside Hospital can stand alone without financial support from the other facilities.
“We gave concessions quickly so they would have plenty of time to present a plan by Sept. 15,” he said.
Nonetheless, Johnson said the union has not lost complete faith in Forum management.
“We remain hopeful that the courts will force Forum to put a plan in place that will be in the best interest of the community. In the meantime, the workers at Northside will continue to focus on providing quality care for this community,” he said.
“Obviously, the lenders can do whatever they want. But, what Forum is telling union members is that it believes it will be able to formulate a plan itself,” Johnson said.
Two SEIU members that work at Forum also participated in the electronic press conference: Donna DePaul, who works at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, and James Brown, an employee at Western Reserve Care System (Northside Medical Center).
“Over the past four or five years, our members have given up millions of dollars in concessions. That is not a Band-Aid. We’re talking about people who don’t make a lot of money, a majority of whom have serious seniority and are committed to seeing quality health care and a health-care option remains in Youngstown,” Brown said.
“There is naturally a level of concern among employees with what is going on with the bankruptcy. We watch it very closely. But, essentially, what I see is we are just attending to the business of taking care of our patients. We touch base with unions, talk among ourselves and hope this is resolved in a positive way,” DePaul said.
alcorn@vindy.com