Colusa hospital seeks OK for insurance payments

June 21--Colusa's bankrupt hospital wants to continue making payments on its insurance premiums and will ask a federal judge next week to OK the expenditures.

The liability insurance is set to expire Sept. 3 and has a monthly premium of $10,368, according to the filing for Colusa Regional Medical Center. The total payment sought is about $31,000.

The hospital's bankruptcy trustee has about $565,000 on hand. The largest creditor, the federal Department of Agriculture at about $3 million through a leashold mortgage, has agreed to let the hospital make the payments, the filing said.

If the hospital pays about $190,000 for three years of coverage, it can continue to have up to $15 million in coverage.

"Keeping the insurance policy current is in the best interest of the estate, as it preserves the trustee's ability to obtain 'tail coverage' that will provide extended coverage for pre-petition liability claims against the estate," the bankruptcy trustee's lawyer said in a filing.

Since it sought bankruptcy protection on June 3, the hospital has filed many documents outlining its financial condition.

The hospital listed $8.5 million in assets and $11 million in liabilities.

A variety of financial details were available through the filing:

-- The hospital had gross revenues of $69.6 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014; $80.7 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015; and $75.1 million for the fiscal year ending on March 31 of this year.

-- Walter Beck, the hospital's CEO until earlier this year, had a monthly salary of $18,630. From April 2015 to May of this year, his salary was $265,335, plus another $8,300 in expenses, the filing said.

-- Wayne Allen, the interim CEO after Beck, received $55,416 from March through May, plus another $1,900 in expenses.

-- Tish Miller, the CFO from 2013-15, earned $153,650, the filing said.

-- Christopher Dover, the interim CFO in 2015, was paid $77,000, plus $31,931 in expenses.

-- Gary Pea, the interim CFO from 2015 until the bankruptcy, was paid $68,000, plus $1,800 in expenses.

In addition to the $3 million owed to the federal government, the hospital also owes about $112,000 in payroll taxes to the Franchise Tax Board; $713,000 in payroll taxes to the IRS; and $509,000 to Athem Blue Cross.

CONTACT Harold Kruger at 749-4774

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