HCH owner closes its sister hospital

Closing in Wellington comes without warning

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A hospital owned by the same company that owns Hillsboro Community Hospital abruptly closed its doors Thursday.

A sign hanging on the door of Sumner Community Hospital, Wellington, read, “Sumner Community Hospital and the Emergency Department are closed. If you are in need of immediate medical assistance, please call 911. To request copies of medical records please call (620) 326-7451 ext. 262 or 289 and leave a message.”

According to local news sources, hospital employees were told at the end of their shifts they needed to look for employment elsewhere.

Early last week the hospital advertised its one-year anniversary, and a sign was recently erected on the lawn.

Mark Rooker, CEO at HCH, said the closing of the hospital in Wellington has no effect on HCH. He declined to comment about the reasons for the closure.

Cindy Samuelson, spokesman for Kansas Hospital Association, said KHA knows nothing more than the fact the hospital closed.

“We do not have any additional information at this time,” she said. “There are hospitals in Winfield and Derby, both less than 30 minutes away.”

Rural Hospital Group, whose officers, Larry Arthur, Jim Shaffer, Trent Skaggs, and Dennis Davis, ran a company that operated HCH earlier, bought HCH out of bankruptcy in November.

HCH was in bankruptcy court since soon after receiver Cohesive Healthcare Management and Consulting filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a year ago. Two months prior to that, mortgage-holder Bank of Hays petitioned district court to foreclose the mortgage.

Messages and emails to RHG officers were not returned.