Healthcare In Crisis: North Oakland Medical Center closes door on almost a century of service

Thursday, October 30, 2008

North Oakland Medical Center closes door on almost a century of service

The North Oakland Medical Center officially closed for business at 5 p.m. Tuesday, ending almost 100 years of service to the residents of northern Oakland County and leaving many of the 800 staffers without work, The Detroit News reported.

Oakland Physicians Medical Center, which agreed to buy the failing hospital earlier this year, was unable to raise enough capital for the project due to the latest credit crunch and a sluggish state and national economy.

"It's something that we certainly knew could happen," the hospital's current Chief Financial Officer Mike DeRubeis told The Detroit News. "It just kind of fell apart at the end. It was very disappointing."

No new patients were admitted as of late last week, and about 64 patients were discharged or transferred from the hospital this week, he said.

The hospital's decline can be attributed, in part, to providing medical care to patients who couldn't afford to pay, putting the hospital in debt up to $100 million, and preventing it from updating its medical technology for procedures that produce revenue.

Patients will be able to pick up their medical files in the coming weeks, and the hospital will work to transfer custody of the files to a local hospital.

DeRubeis will serve as interim president and CEO/CFO starting Nov. 1, overseeing 40 to 60 employees who will help complete the approximately four-month corporate wind down of the hospital.

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Statistics Collection

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