By SCOTT REESE WILLEY

Hometown PressIt appears the Winnie Community Hospital is heading to the auction block.

Or maybe not.

A judge has ordered the hospital to be sold in a constable’s sale on Feb. 1 and the proceeds to be used to pay off three area taxing entities — East Chambers ISD, Trinity Bay Conservation District and Chambers County.

However, attorneys on both sides are working to settle the account before the sale.

The hospital owes the three entities $25,391.70 in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to court documents filed Jan. 4 — less than a week after Frontier Healthcare Group sold the medical facility to the Winnie Coastal Medical Foundation.

According to court records, the hospital owes back taxes of $5,762.65 to Chambers County, $4,780.37 to Trinity Bay Conservation District, and $14,848.68 to East Chambers Independent School District.A judgement filed against the hospital last November in the 344th District Court assesses the value of the hospital at $879,480 and personal property at $185,820.

Personal property includes equipment, furniture and inventory.

The constable’s sale is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Chambers County Courthouse in Anahuac. Derk Harmsen, president of the Winnie Coastal Medical Foundation, said Tuesday he was unaware the hospital was heading to the auction block.But he said the foundation would prevent the sale from taking place.

“We can’t let (the sale) happen,” he said. “What we’ve got to do is come up with the money to pay the back taxes.”

The medical foundation was founded last February by members of the Winnie-Stowell community who were concerned with keeping the hospital doors open. 

The foundation purchased the hospital from Frontier Healthcare in late December for an undisclosed sum, and agreed in writing to lease the hospital back to Frontier, also for an undisclosed sum.Because the foundation is a nonprofit organization, it can qualify for state and federal grants, and receive higher medicare reimbursements that private enterprises like Frontier cannot.

At the time of the sale Harmsen told The Hometown Press that the purchase agreement did not include the assumption of Frontier’s $4 million or so debts to creditors and the Internal Revenue Service. 

However, he said the arrangement will allow Frontier to pay off its debt over the next decade and make the hospital profitable again.