The Tribune’s Aug. 7 story about the buyout ran above the fold.

Local business leaders who made a longshot bid to buy Trumbull Regional Medical Center from its troubled owner last fall didn’t wind up with a purchase agreement. 

But they did meet their primary goal. 

“Ultimately, our efforts kept the hospital open,” said John T. Woods, president of Insurance Navigators in Warren and an officer of the buyout group.

“We made a lot of noise, rallied big-time opposition to the plan to close the hospital and drew the interest of Insight Health, which ultimately bought Trumbull and kept it open. Mission accomplished.”

The buyout group, incorporated as Warren City Hospital Inc., included Woods, retired food wholesale executive John A. Guarnieri and others. Among their supporters were Trumbull Regional President Cindy Russo, AVI Foodsystems Inc. President Anthony Payiavalas, Seven Seventeen Credit Union President John Demmler, many local elected officials and two national healthcare organizations whose identities were never revealed publicly. 

Also in the group’s corner was Pecchia Communications, which mounted a media relations campaign, built a website and grant application and collaborated on outreach to local government leaders, foundations and other potential investors.  

Instant publicity welcomes announcement 

The campaign drew the spotlight right out of the gate. Based on research and discussions with Woods and Guarnieri, the group developed an announcement timetable, news release and website and set up interviews with key media people. 

Local media featured the news prominently, as it represented a sharp turnaround from months of bad news about the hospital and its bankruptcy-bound owner, Steward Health Care. 

“The key message was that the hospital was critical to the community’s health and needed to be preserved,” said Dan Pecchia, president of Pecchia Communications and the communications lead for the effort. 

“We also made it clear that, although the group had quickly amassed tremendous resources and support, it needed more financial support from the community to win the bankruptcy court’s approval to buy Trumbull Regional from Steward.” 

The release, follow-up communications and website identified the buyout group’s four officers, increasing credibility for the effort. In addition to Woods and Guarnieri, the group included Dr. Lindsey Brodell Dolohanty, a dermatologist and owner of Brodell Medical in Warren, and Donald W. Emerson, long-time executive director of the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority.

John Woods appeared on WFMJ-TV (left) & WKBN-TV news shows to discuss the hospital’s importance.

Public recognized Trumbull’s impact

“We’re local people with the support of the doctors and leaders of the hospital, and that made us a stark contrast to Steward, the out-of-state, out-of-touch owner that operated Trumbull in a way that hurt the community,” Woods said.

The group reached out successfully to local government leaders across Trumbull and Mahoning counties, some of whom pledged financial support for the buyout effort. The United Way of Trumbull County set up a fund to collect local donations.

The communications campaign also highlighted Trumbull Regional’s outsized role in local healthcare and, thus, how much the community would lose if it closed.

“This is what drew so much attention,” said Woods. “Despite the financial struggles with Steward, the hospital has done a great job and saved many lives that no doubt would have been lost if that care was a county away.” 

As the fundraising effort dragged on, several healthcare companies caught wind of the hospital’s efforts to stay alive. Insight Health, based in Flint, Mich., wound up offering to buy the hospital out of bankruptcy and had the financial wherewithal to do so. Insight won the bankruptcy court’s approval for the purchase. 

One of the closing messages of the local group was to express support for Insight.

“Our plan was to own the hospital as a nonprofit but hire an operating group with experience in turnaround situations,” Woods said. 

“Insight has all of that expertise in house, and plenty of financial firepower, so it was in a much better position to do what we wanted to see done.”