PROVIDENCE — The lawyer overseeing financially ailing Landmark Medical Center said he now expects a Superior Court judge to name a health-care expert today to help manage it.

During a brief hearing yesterday morning in Providence, Judge Michael A. Silverstein told lawyers and state officials that he would wait to name an appointee because negotiations are continuing on a contract for a new “special master” of the Woonsocket hospital.

Those negotiations continued throughout the day yesterday without the judge issuing an order naming an appointee.

“Until the documentation is in place, the court will not make an announcement,” Silverstein said.

He said he had hoped to make the appointment yesterday.

Silverstein said he reviewed 27 individuals or entities potentially capable of handling the job, ultimately interviewing five in conjunction with officials from the attorney general’s office and the state Department of Health.

Landmark petitioned the court late last month to clear the way for a potential merger with another hospital. The Woonsocket facility has been losing money for many years and at the end of the last fiscal year was $7.2 million in debt.

On June 26, Silverstein appointed Pawtucket lawyer Jonathan N. Savage to oversee Landmark as a temporary special master.

Gary Gaube, the hospital’s chief executive officer, submitted his resignation on Monday. Gaube, 56, will leave at year’s end.

Reached on his cell phone late yesterday afternoon, Savage said he had just concluded a conversation with the judge, who had informed him the negotiations had yet to conclude.

The Pawtucket lawyer said he is scheduled to meet with the judge this morning, to learn whether a contract is set.

He is functioning as the hospital’s president, CEO and chairman of the board, deciding on all expenditures, hiring and other issues.

Savage may be asked by the judge to assist whoever is named to oversee the hospital’s operations while its future is being determined.

pgrimald@projo.com