Now that mediation has failed, what’s next in UMC-Children’s Hospital fight?

A trip to Austin to hammer out a deal to settle the $100 million University Medical Center says El Paso Children’s Hospital owes it was all for nothing.

Getting details on what went wrong is not easy.

“We’re all held under a strict confidentiality clause by the courts,” Children’s CEO Mark Herbers told ABC-7.

Mediation failed again, which was the third try between the two hospitals.

So how does the County plan to protect the taxpayer? That’s what ABC-7 wanted know now that mediation between Children’s and UMC has collapsed.

County Judge Veronica Escobar told ABC-7 there are a couple of things that give her comfort as the whole thing goes back to the courts.

“Even though I still believe that bankruptcy was unnecessary and costly, No. 1, there’s a clock, so that means (Children’s) cannot continue to operate in the way they had been operating in the past,” Escobar said. “They now have to start paying bills.”

Escobar said El Paso Children’s Hospital made its first payment on Tuesday to UMC for services rendered. UMC claims Children’s owes more than $100 million dollars but Children’s disputes that number.

“Money is coming back into UMC,” Escobar said. “There’s a clock essentially. There’s a finite period of time for this process to reach its conclusion.”

She said that period of time is up to the judge, but could be as little as 120 days.

“On the second front, the judge, Judge (Christopher) Mott, he is someone who lived in El Paso for decades,” she said. “He gets it. He gets that both institutions are critical to El Paso.”

That’s led Mott to tell the parties involved he wants to hold as many hearings as possible in El Paso.

“Going forward, the public will also be able to see a lot of information they weren’t able to see before,” Escobar said. “UMC has a legal strategy. As they begin filing motions or orders with the court, the public will get to see UMC’s side of the story. The public will get to understand the strategy and I think that will help the taxpayer understand why we’ve been headed in this direction.”

Escobar said an item has already been placed on Monday’s Commissioners Court agenda to discuss the county’s legal options, if any, going forward.