Some of Summa Health’s 8,500 workers could soon lose their federal student loan forgiveness if the health system proceeds with a sale and converts to for-profit status.
The federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program forgives the federal Direct Loans of full-time government and nonprofit organization employees if workers apply, have made monthly payments for 10 years and meet certain other criteria.
If Summa moves forward with its proposed sale to Health Assurance Transformation Corp. (HATCo), the health system will lose its nonprofit status — and employees lose their eligibility for the PSLF Program.
“We recognize this is a concern for people who participate privately with the federal government and we want to do everything that we can to help them understand their options as we transition from a not-for-profit to a for-profit organization once the transaction is completed during the next several months,” Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said.