Federal Bankruptcy Court Approves Sale of Hillside Village | Local news

Judge Bruce A. Harwood approved its sale to Covenant Living last week, according to court documents. Despite the ruling, which still requires regulatory approval, the Hillside Village case is still pending in the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for New Hampshire.

The 222-unit facility – which offers a full continuum of health care, from rehabilitation services to 24-hour nursing care, and employs nearly 150 people – experienced low occupancy rates in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said earlier this year. . Nearly a quarter of self-catering units in Hillside Village were vacant in February, when it numbered 195 residents, according to a financial adviser from the nonprofit Prospect-Woodward Home, which opened the facility ago. two years.

Terri Cunliffe, President and CEO of Covenant Living, praised its acquisition in a recent press release, noting that her organization’s staff have previously asked onhow to file bankruptcy and met with residents and employees of Hillside Village.

“We are delighted to continue to build relationships with them,” she said in the statement. “We will meet again with all members of the community to answer their questions in the near future, but our first goal is to ensure that our organization provides them with a solid financial foundation and a bright future.”

Officials from the NH Insurance Department and the State Charitable Trusts Unit must still clear the Hillside Village sale, previously told The Sentinel Mark McCue, a Manchester attorney advising the based Prospect-Woodward Home. in Keene.

This approval is expected in January or February, Covenant Living announced in its recent press release. By then, the organization said it will begin integrating the residents of Hillside Village into its own operations.

Covenant Living will honor all existing contracts with residents and staff of Hillside Village, spokesperson Randy Eilts said earlier this month.

“Our goal is to continue their way of life and make them as strong a community of older people as possible in the region,” he said.