Seeking to determine if Tennessee-based Quorum Health was meeting its statutory obligations to operate Martin General Hospital, Martin County enlisted the help of North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein last year to get those answers.
The information Quorum provided gives insight into the financial struggles they were having for years, and an acknowledgement that it had failed to provide required annual compliance reports for the past five years.
The letter from the attorney general’s office was sent in September 2022. A month later, Quorum, the parent company of Williamston Hospital Corporation, which operated the hospital, responded saying it believed they were operating in compliance with a state statute that regulates the lease or sale of hospitals, reports NBC affiliate WITN.
But they also made clear that the hospital they took over in 2016 was in financial trouble, stating, “Martin General has been unprofitable for years, and its unprofitability is only accelerating due to increasing labor costs and declining patient volumes. As a result, Quorum has attempted over the past five years to find a new hospital provider for the community.”
