ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont Savings Bank is asking a Belmont County Common Pleas Court judge to appoint a neutral party to oversee the remaining assets of East Ohio Regional Hospital. The bank filed the complaint, officials said, to resolve unpaid loans from the bank to the hospital as well as to protect other creditors.

In a filing dated Aug. 5, the bank asks Judge Chris Berhalter to appoint a court-approved receiver in the case. A receiver is a neutral third party appointed by a court to take control of a business, property or assets to manage, preserve or distribute them in accordance with legal proceedings.

According to a release from Belmont Savings Bank, the filing follows nearly a year of unsuccessful efforts by the bank to resolve outstanding issues without litigation.

“This legal action is about protecting the community and promoting transparency in how the remaining hospital assets are managed,” Belmont Savings Bank President Todd Cover said. “We welcome any viable plan to reopen the hospital and will support transparent and accountable efforts to do so.

“Belmont Savings Bank has been a reliable and long-time partner with East Ohio Hospital,” he continued, “but we cannot continue to support a process that puts other creditors, former employees, patients and the public at risk.”

According to the court documents, Belmont Savings Bank extended two short-term loans at $1 million each to East Ohio Regional, then owned by Dr. John Johnson, to cover payroll and other operational needs. Those loans came due this past January. According to the documents, the hospital was unable to pay back those loans and closed its doors in March. The hospital was purchased in June by 360 Healthcare Inc.

Bank officials claim that discussions with the new ownership on resolving the situation also have been unsuccessful.

David Croft, Belmont Savings Bank’s attorney in the case, said there are a finite amount of accounts receivable for the hospital and that is what the loans are collateralized on. So the bank is asking the court to appoint a third party to oversee the collection and distribution of those receivables to those entitled to them.

“Had (the hospital) filed bankruptcy, this would have been done in that process,” Croft said. “Our goal is, look, let’s ask the court to appoint a receiver, those creditors that have a claim can show up in court and say, ‘Here’s what I’m owed and here’s where I stand in a sense of priority.'”

In a statement, 360 Healthcare Inc. President Harold Ramsey said it was “unfortunate” that Belmont Savings Bank decided to take the matter to court after the company has made “extensive efforts to work with them concerning the debt established and owed by past ownership.”

“Our number one goal has been to move this facility forward,” Ramsey said, “and that’s why we’ve been working with the Ohio Department of Health to gain the approvals we need to begin taking care of the people again in East Ohio.”

Ramsey said the purchase of the facility closed June 12 and that it takes roughly three weeks to restart collections. The funds the bank has received since that point, Ramsey said, have been generated entirely during that restart period.

Ramsey said the company plans to present the progress made since the purchase, making available the records of past-due collections before the hospital’s March closing, during the spring closure and since his company’s June purchase.

“That documentation reveals the overall recovery of EORH has progressed at an impressive pace in less than two months as we have moved closer and closer to reopening the facility,” he said. “Plus, as we have stated clearly to local officials and to the media, it is also our intention to satisfy all debts owed to Belmont County, past vendors, and to former employees soon after operations are reestablished in Martins Ferry.”