Insight Health System Of Flint Will Buy Two Bankrupt Ohio Hospitals

Insight Health System of Flint, Michigan will offer to buy Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Trumbull County, Ohio.  Warren is the largest city in Trumbull County, which is on the Pennsylvania border southeast of Cleveland.  Trumbull County faces many of the same economic and demographic challenges as Genesee County (where Flint is located):

https://www.vindy.com/news/local-news/2024/09/michigan-company-seeks-to-acquire-two-valley-hospitals/

Michigan company seeks to acquire two Valley hospitals
By Ron Selak Jr. - September 13, 2024

WARREN — Insight Health System, the Michigan-based company named interim operator of Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, “intends to pursue ownership of both entities as nonprofit organizations in the coming months.”

That’s according to a statement the company released late Wednesday evening, just hours after a U.S. bankruptcy court judge in Houston approved an interim settlement agreement in Steward Health’s Chapter 11 case that paves the way for temporary managers to run 15 of the ailing health care system’s hospitals.

In the near term, meanwhile, Steward Health, which filed bankruptcy May 6 citing billions in debt, will continue to play a role in the daily operations of the facilities here and elsewhere.

Insight’s news release states the emergency department as well as other “critical service lines” at Trumbull Regional will remain open, but some medical services lines may be temporarily suspended until patient safety can be fully validated. That means, when necessary, patients will be transported to St. Joseph Warren Hospital for treatment as part of an agreement between the hospitals.

St. Joe’s on Eastland Avenue SE is less than 2 miles from Trumbull Regional on East Market Street.

“At Insight Health System, we recognize the undue stress and unease activities over the last several months have caused members of the Warren community and surrounding areas who have been in limbo wondering how they will get medical care or whether they will still have a job if these facilities close,” Dr. Jawad Shah, neurosurgeon and founder of Insight Health System, said. “While our immediate goal is to keep the doors of Trumbull and Hillside open for patients and staff, we will assess all aspects of those facilities’ operations in the coming weeks to identify sensible pathways to stabilize operations to ensure these organizations can meet the needs of the communities they serve for generations to come.”

Founded in 2008, Insight, a physician-led organization, operates hospitals and other health care facilities in Michigan, Iowa, New Jersey and Illinois. In 2021, Insight acquired Mercy Hospital, a 414-bed hospital in Chicago, keeping it, the release states, out of foreclosure and reestablishing its emergency department. Insight also expanded service lines into behavioral health, maternal health, neurology and several other areas, the release states.

MEETING SET

A meeting was scheduled Thursday evening with local officials, including those from a local group that was trying to acquire Trumbull Regional and top executives with Insight, according to Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy. Among the topics were to be the transition into the community and the community’s needs.

“We, as elected officials and community leaders, are reaching out to this new group. We’re meeting with them today (Thursday), and we’re going to offer our services. They’re not from here, so they’re going to need some guidance.”

Insight, said Malloy, was drawn to Warren because of similarities the city shares with other metro areas in which it operates, such as Flint, Michigan.

“When they look at the demographics of Warren, Ohio, and Trumbull County, there are some parts of us that resemble Flint a lot. I think that’s what attracted them to us when they saw the situation, Malloy said.

In addition to providing medical care, Insight plans to expand services, focusing on preventive care for minority communities and enhancing Alzheimer’s research and geriatric care, he said.

Documents in the bankruptcy case show Insight Foundation of Trumbull will be the interim manager of Trumbull Regional and Insight Foundation of Hillside will be interim manager of Hillside.

“The hospitals are operating business as usual for the time being. Patients should show up to appointments as planned, employees should show up to work as planned, and those needing medical care will receive it,” Atif Bawahab, chief strategy officer for Insight said.

Steward Health issued closure notices for Trumbull Regional, Hillside and affiliate satellite locations Aug. 21 stating a planned closure of Sept. 20. Leading up to that, the company stated in a court filing it did not receive qualified bids for the local centers.

The closure was put on hold with a development Aug. 30 in the case — that Steward Health and its landlord, Medical Properties Trust had an agreement in principle for MPT to assume operations at the local facilities and elsewhere.

That agreement was the basis of the interim agreement approved Wednesday.