Westerly Hospital bid approved by judge

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- A Superior Court judge has given his approval to a Connecticut hospital's initial bid for the purchase of Westerly Hospital.

The Providence Journal reports Superior Court Judge Brian Stern on Wednesday approved the $69 million "stalking horse" bid from Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn.

The bid, which includes assuming $22 million of Westerly Hospital's debt, will be used as a base for other competing bids.

Mark Russo, the special master in charge of Westerly Hospital's receivership, has said that five or six hospital systems have expressed preliminary interest in submitting a rival bid by a July 30 deadline.

Nobody objected Wednesday to the initial bid, which Stern says guarantees there will be a future for Westerly Hospital.