Stephens Co. Hospital Working To Finalize Financing

Stephens County Hospital continues to work on lining up short and long term financing.

Hospital Administrator Lynne Anderson provided an update on that work Monday.

She said the hospital is close to getting the short-term financing complete while the work continues on getting the long-term bond financing lined up.

“We are working with South State Bank for the $5 million bridge loan,” said Anderson. “The attorneys are working on the required paperwork to make that happen and we hope to get that loan in the next week or so.”

Anderson said as soon as the bonds are done, the hospital will then pay off that loan.

Stephens County Commissioners will have to formally sign off as well, though the county commission voted last month to move forward with the intent of backing up to $15 million in bonds for the hospital, $5 million of which would initially be a short term loan borrowed by the hospital and backed by the county.

It came after a called meeting between the Stephens County Commission and the Stephens County Hospital Authority in which the hospital said it was facing a cash crunch and needed $15 million in all.

The Hospital Authority told the county commission that the initial $5 million loan would help cover immediate operational costs. Meanwhile, another $3.8 million of that $15 million would be re-financing of current hospital bonds, leaving the hospital the rest to invest in technology, equipment, office space and other needs that the hospital said it needs to try and be more profitable.

This comes after the hospital lost more than $4 million last fiscal year and has not yet received money from the federal government that the hospital said should total $4 million, which is helping to create the short-term cash problem now.

Hospital officials said the financing gives the hospital time to continue to work on things and also examine all of its options that are on the table.