The United States District Court temporarily postponed Erlanger’s foreclosure of the Hutcheson property in Fort Oglethorpe granted to Erlanger Health System for its $20 million line of credit three years ago. This ruling signified an effort by the Court to more fully educate patients and residents of the tri-county region about possible foreclosure proceedings on the north Georgia hospital.
The Court not only gave Erlanger a roadmap to enforce its rights under its loan documents, but also ordered the Hutcheson entities and Counties to provide additional notice to the residents of Walker, Dade and Catoosa of possible foreclosure on the Fort Oglethorpe campus in the near future.
Officials with the Erlanger Health System are pleased with the Court’s thoughtful decision regarding foreclosure proceedings on Hutcheson Medical Center. By filing the foreclosure notice, Erlanger was fully complying with the language in the controlling documents – language added by Hutcheson and the Counties – in its efforts to recover debts due to the Chattanooga health system.
“Despite Hutcheson’s failure to meet its obligations, Erlanger – without exception – met its obligations throughout this process,” said Erlanger Chief Administrative Officer Gregg Gentry following today’s hearing. Mr Gentry noted that Erlanger’s $20 million loan was fully secured by the property on Hutcheson’s main campus and further guaranteed by Walker and Catoosa Counties, up to $10 million per county.
“We have stated repeatedly that Erlanger remains committed to meeting its longstanding and continued support of the health care needs of northwest Georgia and we feel the Court understands that,” Gentry stated.
