MOUNDSVILLE — The former employees of East Ohio Regional Hospital have filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the hospital, attempting to protect their claims for unpaid wages that their attorneys said have pushed into seven figures.

One thing that already has happened is the installation of an interim trustee to secure the hospital’s assets. Those moves came after a 3½ -hour hearing last Friday afternoon, at the end of which United States Bankruptcy Court Judge Tiffany Strelow Cobb granted the employees motion to file the petition and appointed an interim trustee.

The hospital has 30 days to respond to the petition, said Michelle Marinacci, an attorney with Gold Khourey & Turak, one of the firms representing the former employees along with the firms of Barkan Meizlish DeRose, LLP and Carothers & Hauswirth, LLP.

Marinacci said creditors can file a petition for involuntary bankruptcy of a company if those creditors feel they won’t get paid.

“The significance of an involuntary bankruptcy is now there is accountability and transparency,” she said. “A U.S. bankruptcy trustee is going to be examining the books, taking control of the assets and analyzing the debts.

“Why we had to do it is because it’s been six months and there has been no indication that there was an intent by the hospital to pay (the former employees),” Marinacci added.

More than 200 former EORH employees have joined a class action lawsuit against the hospital, which closed its doors this past March after former owner Dr. John Johnson reopened the hospital in 2021. In June, Johnson sold the hospital to 360 Healthcare Inc., which announced it would reopen the hospital in the near future.

The hospital’s former employees continue to seek unpaid wages, and also claim that EORH did not give employees the federally required 60-day Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice of its closure.

Marinacci estimated the base wages owed by the hospital totals around $1 million. Add the WARN and Fair Labor Standards Act penalties, and she said the total grows to $6.9 million.

Another aspect of the involuntary bankruptcy petition is that it would push the employees’ unpaid wages to a priority status in bankruptcy. With that status, after secured creditors like banks are paid, those wages would be next on the list above other unsecured creditors.

Marinacci also said that any claims this petition would prohibit the hospital from reopening are false. The hospital could still open its doors again by seeking reorganization through the bankruptcy court.

Harold Ramsey, president of 360 Healthcare Inc., could not be reached for comment as of Tuesday evening. The action only applies to EORH. Claims against other related parties, including Johnson, his son Nithin Johnson, Access Ohio and Arcbridge Capital remain active in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

Marinacci said the former EORH employees are all very happy to see transparency in this case that they had not yet seen.

“They are going to know where the money is and where the money went,” she said. “I think we’re all guardedly optimistic that they’ll get paid down the road, whether it’s from the Johnsons or from (EORH). It’s our intent to pursue every avenue to make sure these employees are compensated for, one, the wages they earned, and, two, what they’re owed in statutory penalties.”