Heights Hospital closes because landlords are behind on rent, notice says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Doctors and patients at Heights Hospital were left stranded in the parking lot after being told they were not allowed to enter the building on Monday afternoon.

A note posted on the door indicates that the locks for spaces leased by 1917 Ashland Ventures LLC, the registered owners of the hospital, have been changed and will not receive the keys until $ 461,302.24 in rent and fees is paid.

Staff said they had not received any warnings or an opportunity to alert their patients or collect their belongings from inside.

“I tried to contact the owners,” said Dr Felicity Mack, who is listed as a doctor at the hospital. “They’re not responding. The title company is not responding. We really don’t get any response, but at the end of the day my main concern, like I said, is my patients.”

Mack attempted to treat patients on Monday who needed help with wounds in the parking lot, but couldn’t get other equipment from inside to treat other people, like Linda Fisher.

She said she came several times a week for Mack’s care for the severe lingering effects of COVID-19.

“It’s detrimental to the patients and to me,” Fisher said from his wheelchair. “It will have an impact on my functionality. I get regular visits all the time, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Mack said security would not allow them to enter the building and that police were also seen on site advising staff that they were not allowed to enter.

Dr John Thomas, another doctor who wondered what was going on, said it sends a message to their patients: their lives don’t matter.

“It’s very obvious that someone is only thinking of money and not of community and life,” Thomas said.

According to staff, three vendors operate from the building located at 1917 Ashland Street in the Heights. Access to patients and employees of other groups has been granted.

Meanwhile, ownership records show the building is owned by 1917 Heights Hospital LLC.

The attorneys mentioned on the letter posted at the hospital door did not return ABC13’s request for comment by telephone on Monday.

Eyewitness News has learned that a civil lawsuit was filed in Harris County against 1917 Heights Hospital LLC in July 2020 by Integranet Physician Resource Inc., claiming they were not paid $ 300,000.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee showed up at the hospital Monday afternoon and knocked on the door, but she was also not allowed in.

She called the situation “scandalous”.

“If they pretend to be a hospital or a medical establishment, there is a federal implication, and I do not think they will be taken into consideration to obtain a reimbursement due to them from the federal government having closed the doors to them. patients, ”said the congresswoman.

In addition to not knowing how to move forward with patient care, the staff at Heights Hospital are unsure if they will be paid.

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