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U.S. Trustee Judy Robbins is raising questions about how El Paso Children's Hospital wants to spend money, according to court documents obtained by KVIA.com yesterday. In recent weeks, both the county and University Medical Center have complained about Children's expenses during bankruptcy. Robbins is objecting to Children's hiring of New York investment banking firm Miller Buckfire & Co. Children's says the firm will help it find a third-party to buy or affiliate with the hospital. Robbins said that it is unclear if Miller Buckfire will also provide financial advice. She also questioned why it needs to be paid $50,000 per month, in addition to other fees. Robbins is asking the judge to deny Children's request, unless the hospital provides more answers.

The union representing 2,500 active and laid-off Patriot Coal Corp. employees said the company can't make a case for rejecting its contracts with workers, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Patriot has told the bankruptcy court that it must get out of its union contracts or it will "be forced to liquidate in a matter of weeks." The company is in the process of selling its assets and contends shaking off the union contract is essential to making the transaction work. Blackhawk Mining LLC has made an offer for some of the mines but said that it isn't willing to absorb pension obligations to workers. The United Mine Workers of America says that Blackhawk had offered to hire some workers and operate with a modified contract, but Patriot moved to end the contract completely.

A bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a financing plan that will help support Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc.’s (HDL) business operations while the company tries to sell itself, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported yesterday. The Richmond-based blood-testing company obtained debtor-in-possession financing from CVF Beadsea LLC, an affiliate of the Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm Credit Value Partners. The agreement will give HDL access to $6 million from a revolving credit facility on an interim basis, and $12 million if the financing is approved after a final hearing scheduled for Aug. 24. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens approved the financing deal on an interim basis at an expedited hearing, but only after an exchange of arguments among the lawyers that exposed the tensions between HDL and its primary lender, BB&T Bank.

A judge has set a Sept. 1 hearing on a plan by a 123-year-old amusement park to exit bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The nonprofit board that runs Conneaut Lake Park last year filed for chapter 11 protection to prevent a sheriff's sale. The bankruptcy exit plan filed last week calls for $927,000 in delinquent property taxes to be paid within a year. But $2.9 million in debts to other creditors could take as long as 20 years to repay and, even then, the plan offers other creditors "the potential for a modest recovery," meaning only part of the money they're owed. The plan includes raising an estimated $900,000 to $1.3 million by selling 330 linear feet of lakefront property that's not needed to run the northwestern Pennsylvania park, which is home to one of the nation's oldest roller coasters, the Blue Streak. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey Deller, in Erie, gave creditors until Aug. 25 to comment on or object to the plan.

Caesars Entertainment Corp., the casino operator whose largest division declared bankruptcy in January, reported its best profit margin since before the financial crisis as it cut promotional costs while sales rose, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The owner of the most casinos in the U.S. generated a 28 percent margin measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization across all of its units during the second quarter, according to a presentation filed Tuesday. That was the best EBITDA-to-sales ratio since 2007, Mark Frissora, chief executive officer of Caesars, told investors. Caesars’ results underscore a broader rebound in the U.S. gambling business this year, following the slump brought on by the 2008 recession. MGM Resorts International reported higher-than-expected profits yesterday because of its domestic resorts.

Total commercial chapter 11 filings in the United States increased 77 percent in July 2015 over July of last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Commercial chapter 11 filings increased to 637 filings in July 2015 from the 359 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in July 2014. Total filings totaled 71,820 in July 2015, a decrease of 7 percent from the July 2014 total of 77,532. Consumer filings also declined 7 percent to 69,189 from the July 2014 consumer filing total of 74,635. Total commercial filings in July 2015 decreased to 2,631, representing a 9 percent decline from the 2,897 business filings recorded in July 2014.

Coyne International Enterprises Corp., a leading U.S. commercial laundry service company, filed chapter 11 protection, the ABL Advisor reported today. Pending the completion of the sales, Coyne will continue to operate under the supervision of the bankruptcy court. Coyne employs approximately 620 people at its nine locations. Under the three proposed sales, seven of Coyne’s nine locations will remain open and approximately 525 jobs will be preserved. To finance its operations in chapter 11, Coyne has obtained a commitment for $3.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from NXT Capital, LLC, a financial institution based in Chicago. NXT is also the agent for Coyne’s senior secured debt.

The Southern Regional Medical Center near Atlanta filed for bankruptcy on Thursday while executives look for buyers for the 331-bed hospital, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Officials who put the nonprofit hospital into chapter 11 protection said that the Riverdale, Ga.-based facility faces more than $100 million in debt. The 685,475-square-foot hospital's operations have already drawn interest from potential buyer California-based Prime Healthcare Services, which operates roughly 35 hospitals and has made offers for other bankrupt hospitals. Prime Healthcare would continue to operate the hospital, one of Clayton County's largest employers with about 1,350 people, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta. Read more.  (Subscription required.)

For more on hospital and health care insolvency issues, be sure to pick up a copy of ABI’s Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. is expected to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today to cut its more than $3 billion debt load as a severe slump in coal prices continues to wreak havoc on the industry, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Bristol, Va.-based company, one of the largest U.S. coal producers, hasn’t completed the terms of a restructuring plan but will likely sell some of its best mines or turn them over to creditors and close others during its trip through bankruptcy court. Alpha has secured as much as $600 million in bankruptcy financing from senior lenders and secured bondholders to fund its operations during its chapter 11 case. A steep drop in coal prices has Alpha and its rivals bleeding cash and choking on debt taken on to finance acquisitions around the start of the decade, when the industry’s outlook was rosier. In 2011, Alpha paid $7.1 billion for rival mining company Massey Energy Inc., a deal that extended Alpha’s lead as the largest miner of the type of coal used in steelmaking.

Post-bankruptcy Chassix Holdings Inc. has $300 million of exit financing from PNC Bank and some previous secured bondholders, and a board of directors including some veterans of the local auto supply chain, Crain’s Detroit Business reported today. The Southfield, Mich.-based automotive supplier has secured a $150 million exit term loan from several of its previous bondholders plus an asset-based loan from PNC. The new capital is expected to repay previous debtor-in-possession financing that Chassix used to navigate bankruptcy, as well for exit plan payments and working capital. Chassix filed for Chapter 11 reorganization March 12 in New York. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles confirmed the company’s reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy court July 9.