Massillon could own Affinity Medical Center by the end of the week.
On Monday, City Council approved a takeover deal for the property and assets of the now-closed hospital from its current owner Quorum Health. Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry says only the final paperwork remains to be signed to set the ownership change in motion.
Since February when Quorum made it clear it was closing Massillon’s only hospital, the city has been trying to find a new operator for it. The mayor says five groups are interested, but the city has to control the property.
Council had concerns about not having enough information to say yes to the take-over.
But Catazaro-Perry said it's a kind of catch-22.
“We have entities knocking at the door and we can’t negotiate with them fully and get them into the building to do their due diligence to be able to bring something back to council.”
After about an hour more of questions, council voted unanimously to go forward with the ownership change.
