An email obtained by The Enterprise indicates the hospital owners asked for more than $800,000 for the donation of the hospital property, plus a letter confirming the donation and a fair market value of $3.9 million.
The email, between Foresight Hospital and Health System executives, top county officials and others, was obtained from an anonymous source and later confirmed by sources familiar with the proposal.
In a Nov. 2, 2023 email to Dr. Sameer Suhail M.D., as well as local county and economic development officials, Joseph Hylak-Reinholtz, general counsel and COO of Foresight, expanded on the proposed donation that appears to have initially been made to the Southwest Virginia Health Authority, and later proposed to Patrick County.
“I originally thought that there was two parts to this deal, but now I think it is three based on your questions,” Hylak-Reinholtz wrote in the email that appears to be his response to questions posed by Beth Simms, county administrator.
“First, Foresight Health will donate the hospital property located at 18688 Jeb Stuart Highway, Stuart, Virginia (Patrick County) as-is to the Southwest Virginia Health Authority (the “Authority”) or some other designated agency or entity, giving no warranties, transferring said property via quit claim deed,” Hylak-Reinholtz wrote.
The authority is a special state organization created in 2007 by the Virginia General Assembly to bring area leaders together and find ways to improve health and health related prosperity in the far Southwest Virginia region. The authority currently serves the Lenowisco and Cumberland Plateau Planning Districts, according to its website.
“In exchange for this donation of real property, the Authority will provide a donation letter confirming that the real property was donated and has a fair market value of $3.9 million (as noted in an April 2023 valuation),” Hylak-Reinholtz wrote. “This valuation pertained only to the real estate,” and did not include the value of any fixtures, furniture, and equipment remaining in the hospital.
“Second, and this is the part that I did not consider until you asked about assets, Foresight Health will donate all of the personal property assets within the hospital building that are presently within the premises,” the email stated.
“This includes several pieces of medical equipment, fixtures, furniture, and the like,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, I do not have a fair market value for these assets, so we could either (1) take a lot of time to inventory everything in the building and spend more time trying to figure out the used, as-is value of the assets, or (2) just agree that the value of the assets is $100,000 and add that to the donation value, giving us additional tax deduction credit,” the email stated.
“For example, there is presently an x-ray machine that is old but upgradable per our medical equipment consultant. This has an overhead camera but also includes GE OEC 9800 Plus C-Arm that has an online used value of $30,000 to $35,000,” he wrote and asked for feedback on the proposal.
“Third, we’ve told Del. Williams about all of the costs that we have incurred to maintain the property and the expenses which arose to assess the condition, develop plans for reopening the hospital, etc., and proposed that Foresight Health recover half of the incurred costs to minimize our losses with this project.
“An excel spreadsheet that shows all of our incurred costs, along with supporting evidence,” was sent to Williams, and “totals about $1.63 million,” Hylak-Reinholtz wrote. “We have requested payment via wire transfer of approximately $815,000.”
