June 24, 2016
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph
The Mayor of Sayre is remaining optimistic in light of the recent rumors in Western Oklahoma that Sayre’s hospital will not be reopening.
The president of a Chicago hospital group told an overflow crowd of concerned Sayre citizens on Thursday, April 28 that it was official. Seth Guteman said he had a verbal agreement to open Sayre Memorial hospital immediately and that he hoped to offer basic services to the Sayre community in 30 days.
That would have been May 28. That’s a date that came and went.
Multiple calls to Guteman, to his Chicago office have been made over the last month for an update but have not been returned.
When approached about rumors circulating, Mayor Eddie Tom Lakey says they’re unsubstantiated. And, he remains optimistic that it will reopen.
And, in fact, the way the mayor talks, he may know more than he’s letting on.
At the April press conference and town meeting, Guterman told the group of interested residents and community supporters that his company, People’s Choice Hospital, will be buying the hospital from the bond holder and will reopen it. All along, it’s been assumed that the bond holder and People’s Choice are still working out details – details that the devil may still be in.
And as of last report, that’s exactly what is going on.
As for Lakey, there’s no cause for alarm.
When told that multiple calls have been made to People’s Choice by this reporter and others with no return phone call, Lakey remains confident.
The Chicago suburb company which specializes in troubled hospitals, plans on hiring back as many of the previous hospital employees as possible and wants the best of the best available.
According to its website, People’s Choice says its goal is to restore struggling hospitals to a position of strength in their communities by leveraging financial resources, advanced technology, and healthcare business acumen.
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