"I'm just a little bagel boy in his eyes."
Bagel shop owner says Ocala Regional Medical Center owes him thousands
For nine years, Steve Forrest says he has honored his end of a good-faith contract, delivering two trays of freshly prepared bagels and pastries to Ocala Regional Medical Center, plus an extra two dozen for its cafeteria, six days per week. But Forrest says the 200-bed hospital hasn't satisfied its end of the deal. Now the small businessman is digging in his heels against a facility that is part of one of the largest hospital conglomerates in the country: Hospital Corporation of America, or HCA. Despite a longstanding business relationship apparently cemented over a handshake, the local health care provider allegedly is thousands of dollars in the hole — and according to Forrest won't pay up. "I have a small business. Three thousand dollars is a lot of money," said Forrest, 44, in a recent telephone interview. Although Forrest said he has raised the issue repeatedly with Rob Lester, the food and beverages director at ORMC, as well as its chief operating officer, Brad Griffin, he said his calls are going unreturned. "I'm just a little bagel boy in his eyes. I think he feels I'll just go away because he doesn't want to be bothered by it," Forrest said.
Read more at the Ocala Star-Banner.
UPDATE: Paid-a-licious: Hospital forks over dough to bagel shop