A note posted on the door said that the locks on the spaces rented by 1917 Ashland Ventures LLC, the registered owners of the hospital, were changed and they will only receive the keys when $ 461,302.24 in rent and fees are paid.
Team members said they had received no warning or opportunity to alert their patients or collect their personal items from within.
“I tried to contact the owners,” said Dr. Felicity Mack, who is listed as a doctor at the hospital. “They are not responding. The title company is not responding. In fact, we are not getting any answers, but in the end, my main concern, as I said, is my patients.”
Mack tried to treat patients who needed help with wound care in the parking lot on Monday, but was unable to get any other equipment inside to treat others, such as Linda Fisher.
She said she comes several times a week for Mack’s care due to the serious persistent effects of COVID-19.
“It’s harmful to patients and me,” said Fisher from his wheelchair. “It will affect my functionality. I get regular visits all the time, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Mack said security would not allow them to enter the building, and police were also seen at the scene informing employees that they were not allowed to enter.
Dr. John Thomas, another doctor who has been wondering what was going on, said it sends a message to his patients that their lives don’t matter.
“It is very obvious that someone is thinking only about money and not about community and lives,” said Thomas.
There are three vendors operating out of the building in 1917 Ashland St. in the Heights, according to the team. Patients and staff from the other groups had access.
Meanwhile, property records show that the building belongs to 1917 Heights Hospital LLC.
The lawyers listed in the letter posted on the hospital’s door did not return ABC13’s telephone request for comment on Monday.
Eyewitness News learned that a civil suit was filed in Harris County against 1917 Heights Hospital LLC in July 2020 by Integranet Physician Resource Inc., claiming that they were not paid $ 300,000 owed to them.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee showed up at the hospital on Monday afternoon and knocked on the door, but she was also not allowed to enter.
She called the situation “outrageous”.
“If they pretend to be a hospital or a medical institution, there is federal involvement and I do not believe that they will be looked at to receive any refund due to them from the federal government, having closed the doors on patients,” he said. said the deputy.
In addition to not knowing how to advance patient care, the staff at Heights Hospital is unsure whether to receive payment.
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