A small hospital outside of Pittsburgh has not paid its employees in more than two weeks because of a “significant backlog in accounts receivable collections” that is being rectified, according to the chief executive of the hospital’s parent company.
Ellwood City Hospital did not pay its employees on December 21 — it’s last regularly scheduled payday of the year. Grant White, the CEO of Americore Health, which purchased the hospital in October 2017, said in an email to employees that January was going to be “a very attractive cash collection month” and promised “everyone will get paid for their work,” according to a published report.
Ellwood City Hospital is the only hospital in a 30-mile radius and while nobody in the community wants to see the facility closed, there are some who are wondering about it’s long-term viability.
“There were employees who couldn’t have Christmas because they didn’t receive their paycheck,” said Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court, who’s been fielding calls from upset hospital staff and is a member of the hospital’s board of directors. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Employees were due to be paid this past Friday, but there was no confirmation whether that occurred as expected.
The article does not mention whether Americore Health or the hospital are doing its own collections or if the hospital is using an outside agency to collect on its behalf.
