Public Hearing on Sale of Ty Cobb Regional Set For Today

A public hearing is scheduled this afternoon as part of the process in the sale of Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center to St. Mary’s Healthcare in Athens.

Members of the community are invited to come out and speak for or against the sale.  The hearing is required by State law and will be held at 5p at Ty Cobb Regional.

In late February, St. Mary’s announced it had signed a letter of intent to purchase Ty Cobb Regional and was proceeding with its due diligence.

The hearing this afternoon is part of that process.

On Monday, Jim Parnell, bond attorney for Franklin County said if all goes as planned, St. Mary’s is expected to close on the sale soon.

“There is now an asset purchase agreement between St. Mary’s and those entities that operate Ty Cobb,” Parnell said. “The transaction, we’re told by attorneys involved in the sale, is that it is supposed to close by June 1st.”

Ty Cobb CEO Greg Hearn announced last year the hospital has been losing money since it opened July 2012 and he was actively searching for a larger healthcare organization to partner with.

Then last November, Hearn and the Ty Cobb Regional Board Authority announced the hospital could not make its $311-thousand dollar bond payment, which was due December 1.

The County stepped in and made that payment using money from the sale of the two county roads surrounding the hospital to the Franklin County Industrial Building Authority.

Now the County is working to call for the renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax a year early in order to be able to make those interest payments without having to raise the millage, according to Franklin County Manager Beth Thomas.

The County plans to put the SPLOST referendum on the November ballot.

Again, the public hearing on the sale of Ty Cobb Regional to St. Mary’s takes place this evening at 5p at the hospital, located on Clear Creek Parkway off SR59 in Lavonia.