by peter e. bortner
POTTSVILLE - Whether the building that housed Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs will be home to a hospital again could be determined next month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
On Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John J. Thomas scheduled a hearing for 9:30 a.m. July 12 at the request of Trustee William G. Schwab, Lehighton, to sell personal property located at the former Butler Township hospital.
Thomas will consider Schwab's request and also the objections to it filed by Saint Catherine Healthcare of Pennsylvania LLC, The Boulder Investment Trust and Windriver Corp. of WY LLC, which want the business sold in its entirety.
Schwab asked the court to allow him to sell the personal property - which would not include the land or building - on July 21 and 23, beginning at 9 a.m. each day.
"The Trustee ... has determined that it is in the best interest of the estate and creditors to offer the (property) for public sale," Schwab alleged in his motion, which he filed on May 16.
The hospital just outside Ashland filed for bankruptcy on April 9, asking the court to allow it to reorganize.
The state Department of Health has revoked the hospital's license and its approximately 150 employees have been left out of work.
The hospital originally filed the petition as a Chapter 11 reorganization case, but Thomas on April 18 converted the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation one.