An announcement was made in Friday’s Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Annual Meeting by Ed Darling, a member of the HCEDC’s Board of Directors that indeed the Bankruptcy Court had given its approval.  A news release was also put out by HCEDC confirming the approval for the deal.

The court order, on page twelve, also deems the deal between the previous owner of the real estate on and in which the hospital sits and operates, Delaware-based MPT, to transfer the property to the city of Hope and Hempstead County to be “satisfied.”   Darling announced at Friday’s meeting that MPT has donated the property to the city and the county. 

The lawsuit filed by Steward against MPT for what it described as interference in the sale of Steward’s hospitals is acknowledged in the order to have been settled. 

The order follows months of uncertainty after the news of Steward Health, the parent company of Hope’s hospital, filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on May 6th. After that declaration, the Southwest Arkansas Health Authority, a nonprofit organization, was created to represent the interests of the governments and people of the region served by Wadley Regional. The City of Hope’s Board of Directors and the Hempstead County Quorum both unanimously approved purchasing the real estate. Pafford Medical System entered a bid –approved as qualified by the Bankruptcy court—to purchase the hospital’s operating license. 

The approval of both deals clears the way for the full takeover of the hospital by Pafford after all the purchase deals are closed.  The goal of these purchases was to prevent the hospital from closing due to Steward’s bankruptcy. Thursday’s court ruling approves these purchases. 

At Friday’s meeting, Darling said, “This is only the first quarter of a long ballgame. We have property. We have a hospital. We have an operator. Now we've got to get busy operating it and running it, and our goal is to provide high quality healthcare that’s affordable. We will keep you informed of our progress and our challenges.” He congratulated many parties for contributing to the effort to save Hope’s hospital over the past three months. 

“We have asked the state for some operating funds, for capital improvement funds,” Darling said. “We need whatever political clout you can deliver in talking to your local representatives, your local senators.” 

Pafford CEO Jamie Pafford-Gresham also spoke of what it took to bring the effort to this point and what lies ahead. “We have been in prayer for probably about four months now, as hard as I could possibly pray, and even as to a point from yesterday, thinking that this would not happen,” she said. “[Pafford Vice President] Ben [Gresham] and I are humbly and proudly announcing that as early as next week we will be the owners of southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center right here in Hope.” 

She also described next steps. "This is a community project," she said. "This is something that we all need to do together to ensure not only our county but the surrounding counties have the access to immediate emergency health care, and that's what we plan to do. I feel like we're uniquely positioned to revitalize the hospital. With help from our partners from the city and state, we feel like that we can beef back up things that we've watched trickle away from us in the past years."

After the meeting, Gresham said September 17th is the next important date. "We look forward to the final signing next week to make sure that everything's in place. [There's] one more hurdle with the Department of Justice getting clearance, and then we should be good to go."

Darling after the meeting explained how MPT came to decide on donating the real estate. “One of the old adages of businesses is get to know who you're dealing with. Back in March, a couple of our folks got on a plane and flew to Alabama and introduced themselves to the MPT people and made our case, and we actually made an offer on the hospital before it was ever put on the market,” he said. It also did not hurt that MPT’s chief financial officer graduated from Harding University, which is in Searcy Arkansas, Darling said. 

Representative Danny Watson expressed relief at what was announced. “If we cannot check that box [of having a hospital] and also quality of life, not just Hope and Hempstead County, but Lewisville to the south of us, Nashville. Even Texarkana, Nevada County. So, oh man, this is a good conclusion of a great week, right here.” 

State Senator Steve Crowell, when asked about the prospect of the Pafford-run hospital gaining funding from the state, said “It is going to be a heavy lift, and there's going to be a lot of work to be done, but the local representation is 100 percent behind this, and I believe that our business partners at the legislature know how important it is for a community to keep their hospital and with the Paffords taking it over and their sterling reputation, that is a feather in our cap and a leg up for us.” 

Clay Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer of Pafford said after Friday’s meeting that after months of long work sessions, Thursday’s court session approving the sale was “short and sweet.” He also emphasized the importance of the hospital and the community strengthening their relationship in the future. “It's been a very long five or six months, but you know, the community is still behind the hospital in Pafford. We just need the community support. It's the community's hospital, and we want to return it to the community so that the community has trust and will continue to come and see us for their health care needs.” 

Ed Darling, member of the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation board and Justice of the Peace with the Hempstead County Quorum Court, spoke at Friday's annual meeting of the HCEDC about the announcement of the U.S. South Texas District Bankruptcy court's approval of the transfer of Hope's hospital's operation rights to Pafford and its real estate to the city of Hope and Hempstead County.