By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital recently received Internal Revenue Service approval for their new non-profit corporation, which bring them a step closer to privatization.

MMH CEO Robert Wolleben said they are not yet using the new corporation because the asset transfer deal with the town is pending.

“It has no assets or liabilities until we complete the transfer with the town,” Wolleben said of the new corporation.

MMH is in the process of transitioning from a municipal hospital to a private, non-profit entity. Now that the IRS approved their application to run as a non-profit, MMH will have to get approval from the Attorney General’s Office.

“There’s one minor thing that has to be done … we actually have to file a form with the New York State Attorney General’s office … that gives us the approval to use the corporation,” Wolleben said.

Wolleben said the asset transfer negotiation with the town is ongoing. Town officials at their October meeting reported that they have sent a draft agreement to MMH officials. Wolleben said they’ve since responded.

“We have reviewed that, we have sent our comments back to them and that counts as active negotiation,” the CEO said. “The process of negotiating that asset transfer agreement will probably take some time. We’re not at all dismayed that we’ll probably going back and forth for some time on various items contained within the document.”

Once that’s done, they need approval from the state Department of Health before the transfer can be carried out.

“Then what that transaction, looks like, whatever’s agreed to, has to be reviewed by Department of Health,” he said, adding that he’s not sure how long that would take.

Massena Memorial’s privatization process is taking place during a time when their finances, which had been improving, are taking a downturn.

MMH officials reported losing $690,000 in September alone and over $2 million year to date.