By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital is on track to publicly name an affiliate by February and be completed privatized by the summer, MMH CEO told the Board of Managers on Monday.

“We’re looking at the summer before the new corporation is established and recognized by the IRS,” Wolleben said.

Wolleben said their Certificate of Need application, which they need to operate the new corporation, received preliminary state approval on Thursday and has been recommended for final approval by the end of the year.

MMH has applied for a state grant to pay off $5.8 million in long-term debt, which will allow the new entity to start off debt-free, which he says should be completed by the middle of January.

“We will be debt-free,” Wolleben told the board. “We are seeing if we can move that timeline a little faster.”

Part of Albany’s conditions for paying the debt is that MMH affiliate with a larger entity.

Wolleben said affiliation talks are ongoing and expects they will name an affiliate early next year, but they aren’t yet ready to publicly say who they are courting.

“The board is going through a very deliberate (selection) process … it’s reasonable to say by the end of February, they would be in a good position to name [an affiliate], if not sooner,” Wolleben said.

He said he is cautious about that February date.

“There could always be things that pop up that are out of our control,” Wolleben said.