MARTINS FERRY — East Ohio Regional Hospital has until April 30 to make the next installment on its monthly plan to pay off $1.2 million in delinquent property taxes before a foreclosure and auction process for the property begins.

Belmont County Treasurer Katherine Kelich and EORH Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer Julie Ross reached an agreement on March 3 that the hospital would pay $33,732.14 a month for a 36-month period to pay off the backdated taxes.

The city of Martins Ferry paid the hospital’s first bill for the month of March in line with a 2018 agreement between EORH LLC and the city in which 75% of income taxes paid by hospital staff were to be returned to the hospital. At the council meeting on March 19, Mayor John Davies said all hospital funds held by the city, previously estimated at $90,000, have been released.

However Kelich said she has concerns about EORH’s ability to pay this next installment.

“They’re no longer handling any labs, any patients, so that tells me there’s no income. So of course there’s a concern as to if and how they’re going to make this payment,” Kelich said.

Kelich said communication has fallen off again with the hospital, which officially shuttered its doors last week after several weeks of sudden facility closures, layoffs and employees speaking out about not being paid.

The hospital is still struggling to make payroll. Though some employees are now saying they have received their March 7 paychecks, some have still not been paid for over a month. Many employees have still been working and caring for patients during this time despite being unsure if they will be paid for their hours.

Should EORH fail to make the April 30 payment, the city would begin the process of foreclosing on and subsequently auctioning off the property.

This would first entail a title exam to identify all lien holders on the property, Kelich said. After that, the months-long foreclosure process would begin.

After foreclosing on the property, the sheriff’s department would then hold a public auction in which the starting bid would include all taxes, fees and special assessments associated with the sale.

Though interest in purchasing the property has been rumored to have been expressed, it does not mean much until someone shows up to bid on the property, Kelich said. If the property does not sell after two public auctions, it will be considered forfeited to the state.

“There’s always a concern because I could tell you today I’m interested but there’s nothing committing me to that,” Kelich said. “If we don’t have anyone coming to the sale, because it is an in-person sale, if we have no one coming in person and bidding on it then technically we have no bidders.”

Though Kelich was not able to provide a starting bid amount at this time due to several financial and timeline variables, she said it could include second-half taxes from this year as well as potentially first-half taxes from next year.

Kelich said she does not want to see the building sit vacant for a long period of time.

“The idea that somebody might be interested is obviously what we want but we’re going to have to wait and see,” she said.