STUART, Va. — Former employees of Patrick Memorial Hospital in Stuart have brought suit against the facility claiming they were wrongfully terminated last fall and denied a final paycheck.

Nearly 90 people, including physicians and administrators, filed the class-action lawsuit last week in Patrick County Circuit Court.

Lawsuit documents filed by plaintiffs’ attorneys specializing in workers’ rights allege that the employees were terminated without warning by the financially-troubled hospital in October.

Along with being fired abruptly and denied outstanding wages, the former staff members say that the Stuart hospital’s previous owners weren’t paying employee benefits even though money for them was withheld from checks.

The sum owed to the employees is said to exceed $200,000. That includes wages, 401(k) deductions that weren’t processed, health premiums not paid, tax withholdings that were not forwarded and money owed for uniforms that employees had to supply.

Those filing the suit claim they are owed for three to four weeks of work and some who later returned to the job say they still have not received their wages.

Some ex-hospital workers have reported trouble in paying their mortgages and meeting other expenses due to the hospital’s actions.

The Stuart health-care facility, which opened in the early 1960s, recently was sold by PCH Operations LLC of Hickory, N.C.

Listed secured creditors of the hospital include Wachovia Bank and Marshall Investment Corp.

One of the reasons for the lawsuit being filed on behalf of the ex-employees was to ensure their claims are positioned ahead of those of other creditors to improve their chances of being reimbursed.

Assets of about $225,000, which were held by PCH, have been turned over to the court.