Choose sides with metropolis, orders Franciscan to maintain Hammond ER open for 9 months

Lake County Superior Courtroom Civil Division Choose Bruce Guardian dominated Thursday that Franciscan Alliance should hold its Hammond emergency division open for 9 months as town seems to be for a alternative.

The town filed a brief restraining order towards Franciscan on Monday, following the announcement that Franciscan Well being Hammond would shut its emergency room division on the finish of the 12 months.

“We’re simply blissful within the metropolis of Hammond that, for at the very least the following 9 months, we’ve the emergency room downtown,” Hammond Mayor McDermott stated in an interview with the Put up-Tribune.

The courtroom order additionally instructs town to “undertake all vital efforts to acquire an emergency medical supplier for the residents of Hammond.”

“By now we might in all probability have an ER open down there if it weren’t for his or her misrepresentation,” McDermott stated. “I’ve a pair conferences developing with folks which might be .”

Throughout Wednesday’s listening to, Franciscan argued that its Hammond emergency division could be unable to function following the Dec. 31 closing deadline as a lot of its employees and gear could be moved.

A Franciscan Well being spokesperson declined to touch upon the choice on Thursday afternoon: “Our authorized counsel is reviewing the choice earlier than we take any additional motion”.

In his movement, Choose Guardian expressed the courtroom would doubtless not cut back or prolong the 9 month time-frame.

The town argued its case on Wednesday citing promissory estoppel, a authorized doctrine that’s meant to treatment losses, usually monetary, to a celebration primarily based on guarantees made by a gaggle or particular person.

“I believe that is the sort of case legislation college students are going to examine when it come to promissory estoppel,” McDermott stated.