Hillsboro hospital sued
News editor
A medical supply company is suing Hillsboro Community Hospital to collect $52,924.70 in allegedly unpaid bills.
McKesson Medical Surgical Inc., supplier of a wide range of medical equipment and pharmaceutical products, is seeking an additional $12,893.33 interest, computed through Nov. 20, and $7,938.70 in attorney fees.
That amount could be higher, as the suit also seeks 18 percent interest on the unpaid balance from Nov. 20 until the account is settled. The suit was filed by Butler and Associates, a Topeka law firm specializing in debt collection.
HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc. of Kansas City purchased the hospital in 2008, and three years later, faced with serious cash flow issues, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“We’re reorganizing the company to be better than we are today and being able to pay our own bills for the first time in a long time,” HMC/CAH vice president of operations Bill May said at a 2011 meeting at the hospital.
When the company emerged from bankruptcy, HMC/CAH transferred management of its hospitals, including Hillsboro’s, to the newly created Rural Community Hospitals of America.
An attempt to reach HCH chief executive officer Marion Regier for comment was unsuccessful. A hospital employee said she was out of the office and would not be back until after the new year.
Butler and Associates declined to comment.