Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs has been spared, at least temporarily, the loss of almost $700,000 worth of equipment, as a Schuylkill County judge on Tuesday halted a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey company seeking the repossession.
In a two-page order, Judge Charles M. Miller granted the automatic stay of the lawsuit filed by Siemens Financial Services Inc., Iselin, N.J., which had filed the lawsuit earlier in the day.
Such a stay, or temporary halt, is required under the federal Bankruptcy Code, Miller ruled. Siemens, and all other parties, are barred under federal law from enforcing any judgment obtained before the filing of the bankruptcy petition, according to Miller.
The stay will remain in effect until the federal bankruptcy case is resolved, according to Miller's order.
Siemens obtained the judgment for $699,456.97 plus costs on Feb. 23 from the New Jersey Superior Court Law Division in Middlesex County.
In the petition it filed Tuesday in Schuylkill County Court, Siemens had sought to enforce its judgment by repossessing a dual detector Gamma camera and an Emotion 16 Slice CT machine. The equipment will remain at Saint Catherine, Miller ruled.
