“We remain optimistic that the right entity could make the numbers work at Mercy,” Adirondack Health President and CEO Aaron Kramer said in the press release. “After much soul searching, we arrived at the conclusion that Adirondack Health is not that entity.”

The press release included the little information Adirondack Health spokesman Matt Scollin said they can legally provide the public at this time, due to a nondisclosure agreement establishing confidentiality between Adirondack Health and the potential buyer.

“Even though we can’t talk, at this point, about what that might look like, we are committed to keeping our community stakeholders informed and felt this development was promising enough to share with our residents and their families, our staff and the community of Tupper Lake,” Kramer said in the release. “We look forward to providing additional information as soon as legally possible.”

How soon that will be is not currently knowable, Scollin said.

“Staffing challenges and supply cost increases accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, rendering the business model unsustainable for the health system,” Scollin wrote in the press release.

He said there was a “trend” of increasing financial losses at the facility in the past few years — a loss of $1.5 million in 2019, $2.3 million in 2020 and $3.4 million in 2021. This year, he said the facility is projected to lose $4.4 million.

All these losses are borne by the Adirondack Health organization, he said.

Scollin said Adirondack Health considers this potential sale of the 60-bed long-term care facility a “win.”

“Adirondack Health seeks to do everything it can to keep long-term care options available in Tupper Lake and the Tri-Lakes region,” Kramer said. “We have worked, and will continue to work, to ensure we effectively manage this necessary transition.”

Adirondack Health officials also recently announced that they want to shut down the emergency room at the Lake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center. They submitted a closure plan to the state earlier this month, citing inflation, pandemic-related staffing issues and fewer visits that have contributed to a $10 million deficit this year.

Adirondack Health acquired Mercy Living Center from the Sisters of Mercy in January 2007. It also operates Adirondack Medical Center, a 155-bed hospital in Saranac Lake, as well as health centers in Keene, Tupper Lake and St. Regis Falls.