Lexington, Ky.

(AP) A medical staff at a Lexington hospital says they have received no notice from management of a planned closure due to the lack of money from the state and local governments.

Lexington Hospital Center spokeswoman Lisa Johnson says the hospital has been without a contract since March.

She says the state’s Medicaid program for low-income people has not yet started paying for its operations.

Lexus Medical Center has been operating in Lexington since 1997.

The hospital employs about 1,100 people.

Lexham-McAuley County Commissioner and Lexington City Councilman Dave Harris says he has heard from a number of people who say they received letters from Lexington Medical Center saying they could no longer work there due to its financial woes.

“This is absolutely outrageous and completely unacceptable,” Harris says.

“The state and the local governments have been spending so much money that we are in dire straits, we cannot even afford our staff salaries.”

He says the situation has been particularly bad for the Lexington Public Schools, which has been struggling to meet its budget.

Harris says the district has been in debt and that its finances are in shambles.

The Lexington Medical Centers Association says the county has not sent any notice to its employees.

A spokeswoman for the state Medicaid program says the Kentucky Medical Association is aware of the situation at Lexington Medical.