Just days after the announcement that Insight Health Systems has assumed operations at both Steward-owned hospitals in Trumbull County, another organization is looking to acquire the hospitals as well.

According to a press release, Yates Medical Group LLC has announced its "ongoing resolute commitment" to acquiring both Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Warren.

"We have been working tirelessly to secure these hospitals for several months, and we are confident in our ability to not only purchase the operations but also the land," the release reads.

According to the release, Yates Medical Group CEO Benjamin Yates has a personal connection to Trumbull County having rotated there as a medical student and knowing several staff members there, as well as members of Western Reserve Health Education Inc. (WRHE), another non-profit who showed interest in purchasing the hospitals.

Yates Medical Group describes itself as a "faith-based healthcare organization with a mission to transform healthcare in America."

The organization goes on to say its mission is to reinvest revenue to improve the quality of healthcare, provide an excellent patient experience and expand access to free clinics to those in need.

"We plan to convert these hospitals into nonprofits, and we are in the process of making our medical group a nonprofit too. We are the antithesis of the former owners, wherein we focus on long-term community impact especially for those in need," the release reads.

According to the release, Yates Medical Group expressed its interest in purchasing both Trumbull Hospitals, as well as Sharon Regional Medical Center in the Shenango Valley and after several delays has entered negotiations to acquire all three hospitals.

"Despite the challenges, including unrealistic deadlines imposed on us, which we met, we remained focused on our goal. We refused offers from private equity firms that did not align with our values, choosing instead to pursue the much harder and longer route of debt financing," the release reads.

The organization says a week before the announcement went out that the Trumbull hospitals were closing, Yates was approached by a consulting firm working with a local non-profit that wanted to partner with them.

"The understanding was that we will pool our resources and work together to acquire the hospital, after which it would be under Yates Medical Group. We acted in good faith and showed them all our funding sources, our negotiated terms, introduced them to our congressional contacts etc.," the release reads.

However, according to the release, the day before the shutdown announcement was made, Steward gave the organization less than 24 hours to pay $1 million to save the hospitals.

According to the release, Yates was able to get the money together, but was told by the non-profit not to pay it and the two informed Medical Properties Trust (MPT) they were working as a team.

"In addition to which they asked us to inform Steward and MPT that they were leading the negotiation. We did the same and instead it resulted in the shutdown
announcement, which we were desperately trying to prevent. It turns out they acted in bad faith, derailed our ability to buy these hospitals, essentially sabotaging our acquisition, and then stated that we were not working together," the release reads.

The organization goes on to take shots at Insight saying that they do not have the adequate funding to save the hospitals as evidenced by them reaching out to various resources for financial support.

"Yates Medical Group has secured the necessary capital and even if we approached foundations for money, it would be for a bridge loan which will be paid back with interest. Our goal is to invest in the community and not to take away from it," the release reads.

The organization says it has increased its offer to MPT to purchase the land of the hospitals to a price that no one appears to have offered and plans to reopen a "much-needed" hospital that was shut down a few years ago.

The release does not state which hospital this is, but states that it would serve all three Valley counties, as well as Stark and Portage Counties.

"This further demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the people of these communities. We are still very interested in and fully committed to purchasing Trumbull and Hillside and are actively pursuing the acquisition to ensure that these hospitals continue to serve the community with the highest ethical standards," the release reads.