A Youngstown union leader says Ardent is on the verge of submitting a formal bid for the assets of the bankrupt Forum Health system. The Nashville-based company appears to be walking into a hornet's nest of a court case, though.

Seeking to compel an extension of cash collateral -- money without which Forum could not continue to operate its three area hospitals and other affiliates -- Forum's told the court it is "poised to file either a motion to sell their assets or a plan or reorganization and has attempted to determine if a sale or plan "could be accomplished on a consensual basis." Those efforts "have not been met with any degree of cooperation" from the consent parties but rather a demand that Forum cede them "complete control" over the combined Chapter 11 cases.