CRMC Board Recommends Osborn Group for Celina Hospital

Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s (CRMC) Board of Directors has recommended Ohio-based Osborn Group to purchase Cumberland River Hospital (CRH).

CRMC CEO Paul Korth discussed the proposal during Thursday’s Board meeting.

“Based upon the fact that they do want to open it and run it as a medical facility, I think that would be in the best interest of that community, of course, and also us,” Korth said. “We need to continue to partner with them and work with them, definitely for the cases that they can’t do in Celina by giving them support in running the hospital.”

CRMC and the City of Cookeville received two bids for the Celina facility, with the Osborn Group bidding $500,000 and Celina Healthcare bidding $300,000.

Korth said the hospital faced several different options in how to sell the former hospital but ultimately decided the current bids were their best solution.

“We’ve looked at it several different ways. We could probably sell the assets, the home health license, the property,” Korth said. “We probably as a cumulative could get more than this $500,000 bid, [but] it could take some time. Can’t guarantee how much more. I don’t think it’d be a whole lot more.”

The recommendation will now go to Cookeville City Council for final approval and could be heard as early as next Thursday’s meeting.