Michigan Rural Healthcare Preservation has agreed to purchase the hospital
CHEBOYGAN, MI -- Cheboygan Memorial Hospital could have a new owner.
A non-profit is looking to buy the hospital and invest more money into it.
A purchase agreement was signed.
That means the hospital will be able to offer new specialty services that will bring in more money.
This has all been in the works for a while and 7&4 is told it's definitely moving forward.
“We were optimistic that this will lead to some great things for us. It's about time we had some good news," said Jamie McClurg.
Cheboygan Memorial Hospital Board Chairman Jamie McClurg calls it the hand-shake that protects the future of Cheboygan health care. Non-profit Michigan Rural Healthcare Preservation has agreed to purchase the hospital.
“With this relationship, we think we've established a foundation to not only sustain that but actually improve it for many years into the future," said McClurg.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Cheboygan has joined the MRHP family of facilities as we continue to grow," said Ethan Lipkind.
Chairman of Michigan Rural Healthcare Preservation Ethan Lipkind says the non-profit was established June of this year. The goal is to keep local care in rural communities where hospitals were on the verge of closing their doors. They have specialized surgeons on staff who will perform specialty surgeries to generate revenue. The pioneer of a minimally invasive spine surgery, Doctor Gerald Schell, is just one specialty doctor planning to perform surgery in Cheboygan this fall.
“Those revenues will help subsidize the struggling primary care and emergency services that are vital to the community," said Lipkind.
MRHP has committed to maintaining all jobs in the hospital, and Lipkind says it's very likely several more will be created. And another positive note; one of the long-term goals of MRHP is to possibly look at reopening the maternity ward that was recently shut down.
“In the final end, I think it was an easy decision, I think it was actually a relief I think to us knowing we have a bright future for Cheboygan," said McClurg.
Before Michigan Rural Healthcare Preservation can fully acquire the hospital, the agreement must have regulatory approval.
The hope is the deal will be complete by the end of the year.
