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The public trust operating Pushmataha Hospital in Antlers, Okla., filed for bankruptcy on Friday, noting the hospital will remain open as its leaders work to find a long-term solution, the Oklahoman reported yesterday. The Pushmataha County-City of Antlers Hospital Authority, a public trust operating the Pushmataha Hospital, filed the voluntary petition on Friday for chapter 9 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Pushmataha Hospital is one of multiple rural Oklahoma hospitals that have filed for bankruptcy over the past few years. In total, seven state rural hospitals have been involved in bankruptcy reorganizations since 2011.

WakeMed Health and Hospitals will soon notify thousands of patients that their personal and medical information was disclosed in court filings over six years, the Charlotte (N.C.) News & Observer reported today. A federal bankruptcy court in Raleigh ordered the Raleigh hospital to send out the letters and to offer each patient one year of free credit monitoring. The court last month fined WakeMed $70,000 for disclosing Social Security numbers, birth dates and the full name of at least one minor in claims it had filed in federal bankruptcy courts to collect unpaid medical bills. WakeMed had disclosed the identifying patient information from 2007 to 2015. There is no evidence that anyone discovered the personal information in bankruptcy court dockets and used it to commit identity theft or some other abuse. However, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephani Humrickhouse wrote in a court ruling that an organization like WakeMed that regularly participates in bankruptcy proceedings should have been a lot more careful.

Lawyers who put Florida’s Institute for Cardiovascular Excellence into bankruptcy have asked a federal judge to approve a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which accused the center of charging Medicare for patients who underwent medically unnecessary procedures, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The settlement would end the dispute between Justice Department officials and the medical practice run by Asad Qamar, an Ocala, Fla., cardiologist who was among the highest-billing doctors in the government insurance program in recent years. In early 2015, Justice Department lawyers said that they had joined a whistleblower lawsuit against the doctor alleging he billed the Medicare program for inserting stents in patients that weren’t medically necessary. Dr. Qamar denies wrongdoing. Under the deal, Dr. Qamar let the government keep $5.3 million in Medicare payments for patient services that were frozen when the practice was cut from the government health insurance program in May 2015, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. Qamar also agreed to pay $2 million once he sells his Manhattan condominium.

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals said on Friday that it has emerged from bankruptcy, USA Today reported on Saturday. The former Martin Shkreli-led company also said that it had acquired the rights to develop benznidazole from Savant Neglected Diseases for $3 million. Benznidazole is a drug that helps treat Chagas disease, an infectious disease that affects 6 million to 7 million people worldwide. It is mainly found in Latin America. KaloBios filed for bankruptcy last December shortly after Shkreli was fired as its CEO after being arrested for alleged fraud charges that were unrelated to his brief time at KaloBios. He has denied the allegations.

A Powell, Wyo., hospital has filed for bankruptcy as it faces about 20 lawsuits over surgeries performed by a former orthopedic surgeon, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Powell Valley Healthcare’s board of directors yesterday approved the hospital to file for chapter 11 protection. The board said in a statement the lawsuits from former patients of Dr. Jeffrey Hansen are the only reason for the decision. Hansen was employed by Powell Valley Healthcare from 2006-14 and resigned after being suspended due to “patient safety concerns.” The board’s statement says the litigation that’s come from the “alleged events” has “caused a tremendous strain in personnel time and finances.” Hospital officials don’t expect operating under chapter 11 to have an impact on the hospital’s daily operations, and no layoffs or staff reductions are planned. Read more.

For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore. 

Vanguard Healthcare, a Brentwood, Tenn.-based operator of skilled nursing and rehab facilities, has filed for chapter 11 protection, the Nashville Business Journal reported today. The company said that the petition to restructure its debt, filed May 6, "comes after months of working unsuccessfully to restructure unfavorable loan terms with a single lender." There are two filings associated with the company, one referring to Vanguard Healthcare and the other referring to Vanguard Healthcare Services. Both describe the company as having between $50 million and $100 million in liabilities and between $100 million and $500 million in assets. The first filings lists $28,551 in claims against the company, the largest ($22,287) from a West Virginia law firm. The second lists $254,074 in claims, the largest ($41,185) from a California investment bank. Read more.

For more on hospital and health care insolvencies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore.