Another Kansas hospital run by troubled North KC-based firm can’t pay its employees

Another Kansas hospital run by North Kansas City-based EmpowerHMS is reporting serious financial trouble.

Employees at Horton Community Hospital in northeast Kansas said they didn’t receive their paychecks Friday and have been dipping into their own pockets for weeks to buy supplies.

It’s the latest in a months-long string of similar cash flow problems for EmpowerHMS, which until recently managed 14 rural hospitals across Kansas, Missouri and five other states. Last month a judge granted a request by the city of Hillsboro, north of Wichita, to remove Empower as its hospital’s operator, “citing the irreparable harm” likely to occur if Empower stayed on. The cities of Prague, Okla., and Ripley, Tenn., have filed similar legal petitions.

(Read more: KC Star Local News)