A Stark County judge has clarified an earlier ruling on Affinity hospital and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 1 on the matter.
CANTON A judge will hear evidence in the Affinity Medical Center case early next month to decide whether the hospital must remain open an extra 120 days.
Stark County Common Pleas Judge Chryssa Hartnett on Friday clarified an earlier order granting a temporary restraining order to the city of Massillon and a group of Affinity physicians seeking to delay the hospital's planned closing.
Hartett's follow-up court filing said that a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 1, ahead of Affinity's announced Feb. 4 closing. That means the question of whether Affinity will stay open beyond that date (roughly four months) has not been ruled on by Hartnett.
Procedural rules require that after a temporary restraining order is granted, a preliminary injunction hearing must take place within 14 days.
The city of Massillon and several Affinity physicians filed a motion Wednesday seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to delay the hospital's announced Feb. 4 closing for 120 days "so that there can be an orderly transition that can be coordinated with the physicians, with the public (and) with the safety forces (in Massillon and western Stark County," said David Dingwell, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
The city and doctors in the civil case said that public safety was the thrust of the court filing, especially during flu season.
In addition to not closing Affinity for 120 days, the plaintiffs also want the judge to require that Affinity not close any of its offices where Affinity doctors provide patient care.
Attorneys for the city and physicians say an orderly transition is needed for patient care and to form emergency responder strategies. Extending the hospital's operations for 120 days also would allow the city of Massillon to pursue a potential entity or organization to assume hospital operations, said Dingwell.
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