NKC Hospital lawyers file injunction to block sale

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. - North Kansas City Hospital officials announced they will file an injunction against the city to prevent any possible sale of the medical center.

Michael Montgomery, a doctor and chairman of the hospital's board, expressed extreme frustration that plans to sell that he believes were in motion for months were only revealed to hospital officials a few weeks ago.

"At no time during that period did the city contact the hospital," he said in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The hospital legal team is also asking Clay County court to declare a sale by the city illegal and unauthorized under Missouri law.

Montgomery insists the rumors of a sale have hurt opportunities with other doctors and hospitals because of potential instability.

He says the Board of Trustees should have sole authority of fiduciary responsibilities for the hospital.

The state statute which governs the hospital does not, according to hospital attorneys, designate ownership of the hospital.

When contacted, officials for the city of North Kansas City said they had no comment.

Rumors have been swirling about whether the hospital would be sold since June, when the North Kansas City Council requested a meeting with the hospital’s board of trustees to go over potentially selling it for the first time.

Former hospital president and CEO David Carpenter, who retired last month, told 41 Action News in June that he and the hospital board just recently learned that the city began discussions to sell two years ago.

But Matt Shatto, city administrator for North Kansas City, said weeks ago that the hospital is not up for sale. He stressed that the city was simply exploring potential sale options and that no action has been taken.