Bankruptcy proceedings coming to an end?

By Emily Ham (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Sunday, November 8, 2009

NATCHEZ — Natchez Regional Medical Center hopes bankruptcy will be a thing of the past in 30 days.

And within approximately two years, the hospital plans to pay off its creditors in full with a 4.8 percent interest rate.

“The bankruptcy plan is heading straight forward,” Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Bland said. “We’re going through all the smaller items of it right now, and as we proceed further, we’re hoping to come out of the tunnel.”

Hospital board attorney Walter Brown said the board has been working diligently to not only help the hospital succeed, but also to present a plan that will outline how the hospital will pay it’s debts with interest.

“We filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 12, and we’ve been going through the process which has been going very well,” Brown said.

“The plan (to get out of bankruptcy) was filed on Nov. 4, and an order has been issued that any objections (from the creditors) have to be filed on or before Dec. 10,” Brown said.

“There will be a pre-trial on the confirmation of the plan or reorganizations on Dec. 15.”

Brown said in order for the plan to pass and be put into action on Jan. 1, 51 percent of creditors have to agree to accept the plan

“At this point, the unsecured creditor committee, which is composed of the three largest creditors, have approved the plan,” Brown said.

“This is one reason I feel confident the plan will be approved.”

Brown said the hospital’s plan is unlike many bankruptcy plans because not only does it have a 100 percent match, but it also offers interest to creditors.

“We’ve got some pretty large debts out there, and we can’t pay them all at the same time,” Bland said. “We’ll have to work on them a little bit at a time.”

After dealing with the issue of bankruptcy, Bland said he’s happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel and is looking forward to the hospital moving on to bigger, better things.

“I’m more worried about tomorrow than yesterday, and (bankruptcy) is a yesterday matter to me,” Bland said.

“While bankruptcy is a big issue, the most important thing is hiring more doctors for the people in this community. If someone gets sick, I want them to be able to get fixed in this town.”

The hospital’s administrators have said NRMC was never bankrupt, but the legal filing was necessary to restructure financially.