Cannabis-Focused Investment Banker Reported As Frontrunner To Acquire Ellwood City Medical Center

According to an article published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette early Friday morning, a cannabis-focused investment bank in California has emerged as a frontrunner to acquire the former Ellwood City Medical Center out of bankruptcy.

According to the article, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pelorus Equity Group Inc., which holds first and second mortgages on the closed medical center, is poised to acquire all of the medical center’s assets, according to recent bankruptcy court filings.

Pelorus has indicated an interest in reopening the medical center as an acute care hospital, according to R. Aaron Hostettler, a London, Ky., lawyer who is representing Ellwood City Borough in the reorganization of hospital owner Americore Holdings LLC under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Pelorus, Americore’s biggest creditor, is owed about $10 million.

The case is being heard in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. A date for the sale of the medical center has not been set.

Earlier this year in February, KDKA reported a two-month investigation involving a deep dive into years of court and financial records of the CEO of Americore — the company that promised long-term quality care at the Ellwood City Medical Center.  In January, Ellwood City Borough Council hired the law firm Hamm, Milby & Ridings, PLLC out of London, KY, as representation in the Ellwood City Medical Center bankruptcy filing.

source: www.post-gazette.com