El Paso Children's Hospital CEO Mark Herbers announced that the hospital has filed for bankruptcy protection, KFOX14 reported yesterday. Texas-based EPCH has been mediating with University Medical Center for months over an approximately $90 million debt that UMC claims the hospital owes. The decision from EPCH comes one day after UMC approved a final deal it hoped that EPCH would take. In this deal, UMC offered to forgive a $90 million debt that it said the hospital owed since the beginning of last year. In exchange, UMC would have final approval of EPCH’s Board. Herbers said that the hospital was "left with no choice" but to seek bankruptcy protection, calling it the "most sustainable option,” but added that the amount of money that UMC claimed EPCH owed was inaccurate. Herbers also claimed that UMC had changed original terms and submitted a completely different term sheet to EPCH. According to the EPCH's bankruptcy filing, it owes money to more than 20 unsecured creditors and it added up to $11.4 million. Its board authorized bankruptcy as early as Feb. 11, 2015, and the first hearing is set for May 21.
