■A federal judge approves American Advanced Management’s proposal to operate Madera Community Hospital.

■AAM says it could have the hospital up and running within six months.

■New operators are eligible for a $50 million state loan.

A federal judge Tuesday approved a proposal from American Advanced Management to reopen Madera Community Hospital, meaning the hospital could be reopened within six months, KVPR reported.

Judge Rene Lastreto II’s approval comes only days after Adventist Health and the University of California San Francisco Health submitted an alternate proposal to take over the hospital.

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In December 2023, the Madera Community Hospital Board of Trustees approved the proposal from AAM. The offer from Modesto-based AAM came a month after Adventist Health abandoned its original proposal, saying it was not financially feasible to operate the hospital over the long term.

However, Adventist announced last week that it had teamed with UCSF Health on a plan to operate the hospital.

But, on Friday, when the announcement came, a formal proposal had not yet been submitted to the Madera Community board, according to Riley Walter, the attorney representing the hospital.

The hospital still has an outstanding debt to Saint Agnes Medical Center, which loaned the hospital $15 million on condition of a takeover. When that deal fell apart late last year, Madera Community became on the hook for that money. As of July 2023, Madera had repaid $8 million of that amount.

AAM has a history of rescuing distressed hospitals.

In 2020, it took over Coalinga Regional Medical Center, which had closed in 2018. AAM reopened the hospital in 2021.

Matthew Beehler, AAM’s chief strategy officer, said the company could reopen Madera Community within four to six months.

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