Federal Bankruptcy Court Keeps CharterCARE Open for 60 Days

Federal Bankruptcy Court Keeps CharterCARE Open for 60 Days

On Friday morning, Chief Judge Stacey Jernigan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas approved a series of motions that keep the two CharterCARE hospitals open for 60 days.

 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

As a part of the motions, Rhode Island functionally has two months to strike a deal with either the fledgling Centurion or the new player in the game, the for-profit Prime Healthcare, the owners of Landmark in Woonsocket.

 

Prime is the fifth-largest for-profit health system in the United States, operating 51 hospitals in 14 states, with more than 360 outpatient locations. GoLocal broke the news of Prime's entrance into the CharterCARE sweepstakes earlier this week.

 

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha appeared before Judge Jernigan on Tuesday’s hearing to close the hospitals — that appearance may have saved the day, at least for 60 day — for the bankrupt hospitals.

 

“I’m grateful that we were able to reach agreement that ensures these hospitals will be open through November while we do everything we can to get a responsible new buyer in place. We’ll need to move quickly over the next several weeks but I am confident we can get it done,” said Neronha in a text to GoLocal on Friday morning.

 

Speaker Joe Shekarchi said his office is working to support Neronha’s effort and said he is fully aware of the time limitations.

 

THIS STORY IS DEVELOPING…

This story was updated at 11:59 AM