In an effort to pull Pontiac-based Doctors' Hospital of Michigan out of bankruptcy, a bankruptcy judge has approved a reorganization plan that would sell the last remaining independent hospital in Detroit area to a family-run private equity firm Sant Partners, reports Detroit Free Press.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Walter Shapiro chose the firm's reorganization plan Tuesday over that proposed by a competing organization, Save the Hospital Group.
Here are seven things to know about the reorganization plan.
- The long-struggling physician-owned hospital filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2015. The hospital listed debts between $10 million and $50 million in its bankruptcy petition.
- Sant Partners is run by members of the Sharma family of Austin, Texas. Family matriarch Priyam Sharma currently owns Infrahealth Group of Companies, a healthcare software and administrative services firm.
- In purchasing the hospital, Sant will effectively write off $1.5 million debtor-in-possession financing to the organization in 2015.
- Under Sant's plan, unsecured creditors would recover about $1.6 million out of $13.2 million they claimed they are owed in court documents, reports Detroit Free Press.
- Three Sharma family members will sit on the hospital's four-member board. Jawad Shah, MD, a Detroit neurosurgeon, will serve as the fourth board member as well as CMO.
- Under the Sant's reorganization plan, current hospital CEO John Ponczocha will retain his position, though with a reduced annual salary, according to the article.
- The judge is expected to confirm Sant Partner's reorganization plan next week, Sant Partner's attorney Todd Sable told Detroit Free Press.