Staff writer
Utility shutoff at Hillsboro Community Hospital was averted Friday after a portion of its outstanding utility bill was paid.
The city was paid $16,664.31 Friday morning, according to a press release sent out by city administrator Larry Paine.
Paine declined to say who had made the payment.
“It is the city’s ongoing desire to undertake reasonable steps to assist in keeping the hospital open, while also being a good steward of the city’s finances and utility resources,” the press release stated.
The hospital was $28,644.31 behind when the order to shut off utilities was made Jan. 8. The release said the $16,664.31 payment Friday made the account “current.”
Paine said he did not compose the press release but declined to say who did.
The press release also stated that the Wichita law firm of Triplett, Woolf, Garretson has been hired to represent the city in a $9.8 million mortgage foreclosure lawsuit filed by Bank of Hays against the hospital, the city, the county, and others.
In addition to not paying utility bills, missing payrolls, and allowing employee insurance to lapse, Hillsboro Community Hospital faces three tax warrants for unpaid state withholding taxes and owes the Hillsboro Building Commission unpaid rent.