Compliance October 9, 2007

PBGC Takes on Pension Plans of a Pennsylvania Hospital

October 9, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) will be taking on the $3 million pension shortfall of the Pennsylvania-based Brownsville General Hospital.
Reported by

According to a press release, the private pension insurer stepped in because pension plans of more than 450 employees were abandoned during bankruptcy proceedings. The two plans are the Retirement Plan for Non-Professional Employees of Brownsville General Hospital and the Retirement Plan for Brownsville General Hospital Nurses.

The hospital filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh in January 2007. The hospital plans to reopen in the fall with 48 beds.The bankruptcy court approved the sale of substantially all the hospital’s assets to The Pride Capital Group for $435,000, but that transaction did not call for the continuation of the plans.  

The two plans together have $10.6 million in assets to cover $13.7 million in benefit liabilities, and the agency expects to cover the entire $3.1 million shortfall.

Both plans were terminated on May 25, 2006, the same day the bankruptcy court approved the sale of the hospital’s assets.

«