The blood bath continues over the hospital in Belhaven.

On Tuesday, legal representatives for Vidant Health, Pantego Creek LLC, North Carolina NAACP and the Town of Belhaven met for a hearing at Beaufort County Courthouse at 10 a.m., as the representatives for Vidant and Pantego Creek requested that the claims against them be dismissed.

Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright heard arguments for about three hours regarding the claims filed by the Town of Belhaven and the NAACP against Vidant Health and Pantego Creek LLC, claims that allege breach of contract, fraud, unfair trade practices and breach of fiduciary duty.

For most of the discussion, legal representatives from Vidant and Pantego Creek presented case law, which they felt make the plaintiffs’ claims irrelevant, and representatives from the NAACP and Belhaven defended their own interpretation and the decision to file the claims.

Regarding the plaintiffs’ accusations of Vidant’s breach of contract, a legal representative from Vidant argued that this claim was null and void, as it surpasses the 60-year statute of limitations since the hospital’s original opening in 1948, and the property deed did not stipulate the terms of what would happen if it ceased to be a hospital facility.

In response, lawyers representing Belhaven and the NAACP said Vidant violated a temporary restraining order by closing the hospital in July 2014 and removing equipment. The plaintiffs maintained that the property deed clearly shows the intent to use the property for the construction of a hospital, and previous agreements constituted a contractual duty with Vidant to operate it.

“Certainly we’ve met our burden of pleading,” Belhaven attorney Dahmian Blue said. “We believe that we ought to be able to move forward.”

But Vidant’s representative argued that the restraining order was no longer a viable issue, as it expired on Aug. 25, 2014, and the company did not break with the contract when it turned the property back over the Pantego Creek LLC, which now manages it.

The court hearing follows Belhaven’s attempts for more than a year to reopen the hospital facility. Vidant Health closed the hospital due to its operating on a deficit, and has instead begun construction of a 24-hour clinic. But the Town of Belhaven is in the process of obtaining the property from Pantego Creek LLC by eminent domain and locking in funds to reopen the hospital.

The fraud claims were next up for discussion, and Vidant attorney Katie Taylor led the argument by dismissing Belhaven’s accusations of fraud, saying the plaintiffs did not provide enough “specificity” as to who/how/what was fraudulent to constitute a claim of this sort.

“We don’t believe that this is a fraud case,” she said. “Vidant didn’t guarantee they could help.”

Taylor also argued that Vidant in no way misled the Town of Belhaven and was up front about the danger of the hospital closing.

“‘The actual terms of transfer…will be set forth in a more definitive agreement,’” she said, quoting from a previous agreement. “Vidant not only said that to them, but they said that in the same documents that they’re claiming were deceiving.”

“People who are in the room were there during agreement. Everybody in here knows that what they said in the mediation sessions…was totally different from at least how she came and argued her case there,” NAACP attorney Allen McShirley said in response.

“One woman has already died. That’s why the NAACP feels strongly about it,” he said. “That’s why we involved ourselves in this case.”

Taylor argued that the NAACP does not have enough standing to bring this case to the court, as the party cannot claim grievances for every single member.

“Not all of the NAACP’s members have standing here, and they certainly haven’t in their complaint gone into any of the ‘nitty gritty,’” she said. “We just have a general allocation. … Common sense just indicates that not every NAACP member is going to have cause to action.”

“There was a conspiracy between two actors, two defendants, to toss the ball back and forth like a hot potato, as they did damage to our property,” McShirley said. “We’ve been there enforcing as true watchdogs … that’s who we are; that’s what we do.”

He also said that the Pantego Creek LLC essentially took over hospital operations and while “under the thumb of Vidant,” didn’t consult with the rest of the community’s hospital board members.

“That is the essence of why this is a conspiracy. We don’t think we’re making this stuff up,” McShirley said.

“We’ve had some subtle and not-so-subtle jabs,” Pantego Creek’s lawyer Arey Grady contended. “My clients were the hospital for all these decades and did all these positive things for the community.”

Court was adjoined around 3:30 p.m. yesterday until further notice.