Settlement Reached with Singing River Health System
After more than a year, a settlement between Singing River Health System, retirees and Jackson County has been reached. The settlement says that Singing River must pay over $149 million to the pension plan. Could the debacle finally be over? The answer isn’t so easy.
A settlement to resolve the Singing River Health System pension fund debacle has been reached. All that’s left is a simple signature from a judge and retirees in the federal case will get one hundred percent of what they’re owed plus money for attorney fees and expenses. Kelly Sessoms, council for SRHS, said, “We feel that with those measures in place that this settlement will be agreed to, it will be signed off on and that the system would be able to put the pension litigation behind it and move forward.”
The measures to put in place would be the retirement of the Singing River Board of Trustees and also the $13.6 million funds from Jackson County supervisors to support indigent care, a settlement that seems to be a win for all parties involved. Singing River Health System attorney Jim Reeves said, “As long as that repayment plan is in place, it’s being done pursuant to the court supervision, so the court will continue to monitor this plan for many years into the future. We’re confident we’ve got the safe guards now in place to make sure all the retirees are going to get fair treatment by virtue of this settlement and going forward.”
Attorney Harvey Barton, representing over 200 retirees, believes the settlement is set up to fail and he plans to continue filing lawsuits in the fight against the hospital. “There’s not enough positive cash flow to make this plan work. It is destined to fail. What’s going to happen is after all the time periods, the statue of limitations, is run, where nobody can sue under a lawsuit and nobody can file suits and hold anybody responsible, this plan will be terminated.”
If the judge signs off on the settlement, all retirees would be included in the deal.
If approved by a federal judge, a fairness hearing where retirees will be able to express their concerns with the settlement could be scheduled within the next 60 days.
A settlement to resolve the Singing River Health System pension fund debacle has been reached. All that’s left is a simple signature from a judge and retirees in the federal case will get one hundred percent of what they’re owed plus money for attorney fees and expenses. Kelly Sessoms, council for SRHS, said, “We feel that with those measures in place that this settlement will be agreed to, it will be signed off on and that the system would be able to put the pension litigation behind it and move forward.”
The measures to put in place would be the retirement of the Singing River Board of Trustees and also the $13.6 million funds from Jackson County supervisors to support indigent care, a settlement that seems to be a win for all parties involved. Singing River Health System attorney Jim Reeves said, “As long as that repayment plan is in place, it’s being done pursuant to the court supervision, so the court will continue to monitor this plan for many years into the future. We’re confident we’ve got the safe guards now in place to make sure all the retirees are going to get fair treatment by virtue of this settlement and going forward.”
Attorney Harvey Barton, representing over 200 retirees, believes the settlement is set up to fail and he plans to continue filing lawsuits in the fight against the hospital. “There’s not enough positive cash flow to make this plan work. It is destined to fail. What’s going to happen is after all the time periods, the statue of limitations, is run, where nobody can sue under a lawsuit and nobody can file suits and hold anybody responsible, this plan will be terminated.”
If the judge signs off on the settlement, all retirees would be included in the deal.
If approved by a federal judge, a fairness hearing where retirees will be able to express their concerns with the settlement could be scheduled within the next 60 days.
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