Reflective of the financial woes other smaller hospitals are experiencing these days, 40-bed Sheehan Health Network in Buffalo, N.Y., is unable to make its payroll, reports Your News Now.
A memo issued by hospital CEO Mary H. Kargbo to employees said that the June 10 payroll cannot be met, nor can the June 24 payroll.
"A financial burden has developed as a result of losses that Sheehan has endured due to reduced reimbursement in the last couple of years in addition to the reduction in patients' census," read Kargbo's memo. "However, management is taking important steps to retool Sheehan and improve the financial standing for the hospital."
According to hospital employees, they received checks for the June 1 payroll but they bounced.
"I think it was criminal that way it was handled," hospital counselor Steven Sanders told WIVB News. "They released these checks, I believe, fully knowing that there was not enough funds to cover all of the checks."
Sheehan has filed for bankruptcy twice in the last decade: First in 2002, then two years later.
The news came less than three months after Kargbo told the Buffalo News that the hospital's financial position was greatly improved. Kargbo has been at the helm of the hospital for just eight months.
To learn more:
- read Sheehan's employee memo and statement (.pdf)
- read the WIVB article
- check out the YNN article