Slowly but surely, the pile of debts amassed by the old River Valley Health System hospital

is dwindling. Thursday morning, Judge Everett Burton approved the disposal of several pieces of property that were owned by the defunct hospital, some of which were still mortgaged.

In an effort to wipe out its debt with National City Bank, the receivership will deed the Wheelersburg clinic to the bank in exchange for the bank canceling the mortgage on the property.

Charles Cooper, attorney for Lawrence County General Hospital, said the former health care facility owes $280,000 against the property in unpaid payments and interest.

&uot;The amount owed is nearly equal to the the value of the property,&uot; Cooper said. &uot;So, they will forgive the mortgage and we will deed over the real estate, and this lets us out from under all that debt.&uot;

With this agreement, National City Bank will be able to sell the building and recoup its money.

Cooper said bank officials also have agreed that if the Wheelersburg property brings in more money than what was owed on the property, they will give the excess amount to the receivership’s general fund.

&uot;This would help get more money into the general fund to pay off other creditors,&uot; Cooper said.

Additionally, the bank will use $136,000 RVHS had deposited in the bank to pay off mortgages on two pieces of property adjoining the hospital campus in Ironton.

This will wipe out debts attached to those homes and allow for their probable sale to Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital.

Cooper said the $136,000 has been held by the bank in reserve as part of a contractual agreement in case the hospital ever went into receivership. The two pieces of property are homes at 802 Kemp Ave. and 2308 S. Ninth St.

Burton also agreed to the sale of an empty lot at 1410 S. Sixth St. The lot will be sold to Fred Weber for $15,000, which is the appraised value of the property.

Property at 2412 S. Sixth St. also will be put up for sale. Richard Meyers, the attorney for court-appointed receiver Robert Payne, said the house had been used as an office for Dr. Rahul Patil.

It had originally been appraised at $88,000. But water damage due to recent flooding left the basement in disrepair. The appraised value has been adjusted to $80,000. Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune