MARTINS FERRY — East Ohio Regional Hospital administration is in talks with the Belmont County Treasurer to address more than $1.2 million in unpaid taxes. in unpaid taxes.

According to Treasurer Katherine Kelich, EORH Chief Operating Officer Julie Ross is working with Kelich’s office to make a plan for tackling the $1,214,357.10 bill. If an arrangement for the “very large delinquency” gets worked out, a foreclosure will not need to be filed, she said.

Kelich said she had multiple conversations with Ross over the phone on Tuesday.

“It’s not indicative of a resolution it’s just indicative of a desire for a resolution but that’s a very positive thing because we had had five phone calls yesterday but in the last five months prior to that it was radio silence,” Kelich said.

The hospital has around 60 days before Kelich circles back with them. Kelich said she is confident her office and the hospital will be able to figure something out to keep the hospital in operation, likely in the form of a monthly payment plan.

“The hospital wants to work with us and remain open” she said. “We want them to stay open. Obviously the people want them to stay open, the employees and the city of Martins Ferry,” she said.

Kelich explained that part of the delay in payment can be explained by a lengthy appeals process that resulted from the county’s mandated property re-evaluations and increasing property taxes.

Access Martins Ferry LLC, the company that owns EORH’s property, had challenged the property value assessed by the Belmont County Auditor. The company then filed a complaint with the Board of Revision, whose decision they took to the Board of Tax Appeals, a process that didn’t conclude until late 2024, Kelich said.

During this time, the company held off on making payments in anticipation of a decision in their favor by the court.

“Some of that is not a deliberate non-payment, some of that was just waiting for a decision from that court and that didn’t actually happen until fall of last year,” she said.

However, since Kelich reached out to the hospital with the results of the appeal, she has not heard back and the bill has not been paid. The last payment the hospital made to the county was in May 2023.

Kelich said a company of this size going without paying taxes for so long is out of the ordinary.

“Of a tax bill this size, of a business this size, we don’t generally have this very often. Has it happened before? Of course. But we’ve never had something of this magnitude come up like this,” she said.

The hospital announced Monday that they will be closing their long term care and skilled nursing facilities, raising concerns among employees and Martins Ferry residents about its financial status and the future of the hospital.

EORH administrators, including Ross, have not responded to several requests for comment. However Kelich is hopeful about the future of the hospital.

“I’m feeling very positive that this will work itself out and we will find a resolution,” she said.