MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – For the second straight year, officials with the Baldwin County Hospital Authority agreed Monday to approve up to $5 million to help the financially plagued Oconee Regional Medical Center continue its day to day operations.

The agreement was made during a special called meeting Monday of the Baldwin County Hospital Authority.

“This is really additional working capital to get us through the transaction of a possible sale of the hospital,” Steven Johnson, ORMC interim chief executive officer, told The Union-Recorder after the meeting. “Hopefully we don’t have to use all $5 million, but it’s there in the event we have to use it.”

Last year, the Baldwin County Hospital Authority approved a resolution allowing the hospital up to $7 million in operating expenses, Johnson said.

Asked if it that helped, Johnson replied, “Yes, and we’ve still got about $1 million of that money left over.”

Johnson explained that the additional $5 million would help with day-to-day operations over the next 90 days.

The interim CEO said that was the period of time that he estimates would take the hospital through the sale of the medical institution, as well as through the period of time it will take for the Georgia Attorney General’s Office to approve a sales transaction.

Johnson said there was no purchase agreement with any potential buyer at this time.

Because of confidentiality and the overall integrity of a possible sale, he and other hospital officials can’t disclose the name of the potential buyer.

“We won’t have it for the board to act on at our Wednesday meetings,” Johnson said, noting a lot of work was done over the Easter weekend. “We’ll be like at the 11th hour and 59 minutes. We’ll be really, really close.”

Johnson explained that the additional money from the Baldwin County Hospital Authority would provide more money for working capital at the hospital, such as meeting payroll demands, vendors, covering the electricity bill — all the bills that a corporation incurs.

When it comes to hospital cash flow, the hospital had slightly more than $1 million as of Monday afternoon, Johnson said.

“This $5 million gets paid back first,” Johnson said. “The $7 million has the second position, and then the ’98 bonds have the third position.”

That’s how it is all arranged for paying the money back.

“This is the second operating capital for the hospital,” W. Warren Plowden Jr., a bond attorney with the law firm of Jones, Cork & Miller, LLP, in Macon, said.

The trustee remains the same, the attorney added — U.S. Bank National Association.

“The purchaser of the ’16 bonds will purchase these bonds,” Plowden told members of the Baldwin County Hospital Authority. “It’s a standard deal other than it is a taxable bond this time, rather than a tax-exempt bond. That allows us to get this done a little quicker.”

Plowden said the agreement was very similar to what was adopted last year.

The attorney said before the resolution could go into effect, someone would need to make a motion, and then it be seconded and voted upon.

Cay Quattlebaum, who serves as chairwoman of the Baldwin County Hospital Authority, first called for a motion. Dr. James Smith made a motion to approve the resolution as prepared by Plowden. Ted Zarkowsky, another authority member and a member of both ORMC hospital boards, seconded the motion.

When Quattlebaum called for a vote, the resolution was unanimously approved. In addition to Smith and Zarkowsky supporting the resolution, other members supportive of it included: Quattlebaum, Quay Hurt-Fuller, Micky Couey and Lawson Lawrence.

Dr. John Ferguson, another member of the Baldwin County Hospital Authority, was not in attendance at Monday’s meeting.