COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Board of Commissioners Thursday started its discussion on the proposed sale of the Community Health Center of Branch County with the county commission having the final say on whether or not the hospital in Coldwater will remain a county-owned facility.
The Community Health Center Board of Trustees last week unanimously approved a management partnership agreement with ProMedica Health Systems, a non-profit firm based in Toledo, Ohio. The agreement is the opening step in the potential acquisition of CHC by ProMedica which hopes to close the deal to purchase the hospital sometime before 2018. But first, the county commission needs to endorse the management agreement. The intended timeline for action on the management strategy is January 1, 2016.
The Branch County Board of Commissioners Thursday morning at the first of their two November working meetings indicated they had several more questions they needed to ask the CHC administration about the management agreement and they hope to have hospital President and CEO Randy Degroot attend their next working meeting on November 19. Commissioners also expect to conduct a public hearing on the agreement on December 8, the date for their first meeting in December.