Vowing to fight sale of North Kansas City Hospital, the Chairman of the Hospital Board says he has asked legal advice about the most basic questions in the City Council’s announcement that the city is prepared for potential sale.
Hospital Board Chair Mike Montgomery said Thursday the announcement that Merrill Lynch is advising on potential sale was a total surprise to him and staff.
Montgomery described a sense of alarm among the 3,000 employees.
Montgomery, a medical doctor, said one of the unanswered questions is who owns the public, not-for-profit facility.
Pensions of those who are vested was one of the first questions and Montgomery assured staff pensions are protected. He said staff was shocked As the cardiologist put it,‘We said to them, we don’t want to be sold and so we’re looking into what we can do to try to prevent ourselves from being sold.”
The North Kansas City Manager has said discussion about sale of the hospital has been underway for months.
The Board Chair said the hospital is profitable with the second busiest emergency room in the metro region.
There is a meeting of the hospital governing board next Monday and Montgomery expects to know by then what legal options are available.