Pishkur resigns at Forum

Walter “Buzz” Pishkur, Forum president and chief executive officer, has resigned his post effective today.

The announcement came during a 1 p.m. press conference today at Pishkur's Hillside office. Pishkur was named Forum's CEO one year ago. He is expected to stay on as an advisor.

The move comes less than a week after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kay Woods denied Forum’s request for a 45-day extension of its exclusive time to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.

After the Sept. 15 hearing, creditors worked to develop their own proposed bankruptcy reorganization plan and planned to ask the judge to appoint a trustee with health- care expertise to operate Forum, said Heather Lennox, the lawyer for MBIA Insurance Corp., the bond insurer, which is one of Forum’s creditors.

Pishkur had said Forum would object to the appointment of a trustee.

“I don’t think it’s merited,” he said last week.

The creditors also will seek implementation of a previously developed plan for the sale or closing of Northside Medical Center, which is the most financially troubled of Forum’s subsidiaries, Lennox said. She said after court, however, that the disposition plan, whose details are confidential, would “not mean an immediate closure’’ of Northside.

For details, see Tuesday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.