Hospital Effort is Still Alive

“This time next month there should be a clearer picture of what is going to happen to our closed hospital,” said Dudley Pland, Chairman of the Board of Directors of St. Mark’s Medical Center.

On April 12 St. Mark’s Medical Center (SMMC) and Progressive Health Group (PHG) of Oxford, Mississippi entered into an Agreement for Purchase and Sale (PSA) for the hospital assets.

St. Mark’s closed back in October because of financial woes.

As earlier reported, PHG has indicated its intention to initially reopen the hospital as a Rural Emergency Hospital. The PSA includes a due diligence period to give PHG the opportunity to further evaluate the property, facility and contents. To date, PHG representatives have toured and inspected the facility on several occasions and so far, all indications appear positive. However, if PHG determines that the project is not sustainable for their purposes, PHG has the right within the due diligence period to terminate the PSA. If the PSA is not so terminated and all necessary approvals, including from the SMMC Board of Directors and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are provided, the transaction could close as early as the end of August 2024.

On a parallel path with the potential asset sale to PHG, HUD, who currently holds the mortgage note, is following their process for preparation of a sale of the mortgage note, a process HUD will implement if the transaction with PHG does not occur.

The downside of a note sale is that any potential buyer need not provide any information about their intended use of the property.