Employees fear for future of AR hospital

Doctors at Medical Park Hospital in Hope have issued a desperate plea to state officials, including the governor, a prosecutor and the U.S. attorney for help in keeping the hospital from bankruptcy or closure. Medical Park Hospital, which is a Level 4 trauma center with 79 beds, is the only hospital between Arkadelphia and Texarkana for people who live along the Interstate 30 corridor. It was purchased in 2008 by James A. Cheek, who was convicted with partner Herschel Breig in February for failure to pay $1.8 million in payroll taxes for employees at a bankrupt hospital they owned at Lubbock, Texas.