By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA – Privatization of Massena Memorial Hospital, approved by the town board in December, is still in the early stages and could take until the end of year, according to CEO Robert Wolleben.

“We think it will take eight to 12 months,” he said.

Wolleben said there are a number of areas where they need outside help. Those include filing a new certificate of need with the state Department of Health, which allows them to run the hospital as a new entity, as well as work on a transfer agreement with the town, a new corporate tax filing and setting up a new corporation.

“There’s things we need to do that are beyond my ability,” Wolleben said.

The area where they need assistance is in the actual process of severing ties with the town, which owns MMH, its equipment and debt.

He said they have reached out to consulting groups that helped Clifton-Fine and Rome hospitals privatize.

“The thing we’re trying to figure out and we need help with is figuring out if there has to be a transfer of assets or not,” Wolleben said, adding that other hospitals going from public to private did so “with no transfer or minimal transfer.”

He said they will want to somehow compensate the town for the loss.

“They don’t want to give the hospital away … it has some value and we agree,” Wolleben said.

He said when the transfer happens, it will be to a new Massena Memorial entity, not a sale to outsiders.

“We’re definitely not talking about a sale to an outside entity,” Wolleben said.

The new corporation would take all of MMH’s debt away from the town and hire the current employees at their current pay rates.

“We’ll take that debt, $6.2 million,” Wolleben said. “We’ll take all the employees … at their current pay rate and seniority level.”

He said there will be no problem in carrying over the current lab contract.

“We understand how that works,” Wolleben said. “We will have a lab contract.”

He said there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered with regard to employee transfers from the current MMH to the future new entity.

“We’re a little unclear still as to how all this works. People have questions … and the answer is we’re working through this,” Wolleben said.

He said bridge payments, which would help people in the state pension system close to milestones, are possible but need to be negotiated with the union.

“We’ve already done an analysis … so we know we can afford bridge payments,” Wolleben said. “We’re going to have to sit down with the unions and say ‘Here’s our analysis, does it fit your needs?’”

The pension was a major flashpoint in the debate on whether or not to privatize MMH.

Hospital employees get a state pension, which many employees over the last couple of years have said is a big factor in deciding to seek a job at MMH.

Wolleben said MMH’s annual payment has risen to the point they can no longer afford it.

He said it went from $190,000 in 2002 to over $3 million last year.

“The current pension system is underfunded,” Wolleben said. “New York State has reduced the value of pensions to state retirees by 8 percent.

“If anyone tells you they have it all figured out, I don’t know how they could have it all figured out yet.”

MMH officials expect to release updates throughout the privatization process.

“People will hear a lot more in the next several months,” Wolleben said.