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Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln, Maine, will exit chapter 11 protection in the next couple weeks after a federal bankruptcy judge approved a proposal to reduce its long-term debt, the hospital said Friday, the Bangor Daily News report. In a written statement, the hospital said that the proposal would allow it to “preserve” its business operations and jobs. CEO Crystal Landry has previously said the hospital does not plan to reduce services as part of its restructuring. In court filings, Landry said that the hospital would retain all of its assets as it restructured its debts and that it is “stronger, more prepared, and on a better financial footing than the day it filed its bankruptcy petition.” Penobscot Valley Hospital first sought bankruptcy protection two years ago, after accruing up to $10 million in debts to various creditors including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Machias Savings Bank and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under the hospital’s restructuring plan, Maine DHHS and the Maine Revenue Service agreed to “significantly reduce” the $2.9 million Penobscot Valley Hospital owed to the state at the time it filed for bankruptcy, Landry wrote in a court filing.

Two members of the wealthy Sackler family who own OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma LP offered apologies yesterday for the role the prescription painkiller has played in the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, but sought to deflect personal responsibility in response to withering criticism from lawmakers, Reuters reported. Testifying remotely during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee, David and Kathe Sackler, both of whom previously served on Purdue’s board, insisted they were assured by management that the company was meeting regulatory and legal requirements as the opioid crisis unfolded. The two, among several Sackler family members with ownership interests in Purdue, agreed to testify only after the committee’s chairwoman, Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney, threatened subpoenas. Under a settlement with the Justice Department, Purdue pleaded guilty in November to criminal charges for misconduct with its opioids and agreed to more than $8 billion in penalties that will mostly go unpaid. Sackler family members agreed to pay $225 million to settle civil claims they disputed. Neither they, nor other individuals, were criminally charged.

LRGHealthcare President and CEO Kevin Donovan said that Concord (N.H.) Hospital is the sole health care institution interested in acquiring Lakes Region General Hospital, Franklin Regional Hospital and the hospitals’ ambulatory sites through chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the Laconia Daily Sun reported. LRGHealthcare has filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court to cancel a bankruptcy auction set for today. Once the parties are granted a final order, they can begin the process of seeking approval from regulatory agencies, including the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. LRGHealthcare filed for chapter 11 protection on Oct. 19, citing more than $100 million in debt. The move came after two years of efforts by LRGH to solve its financial problems through a merger or acquisition.

Two Sackler family members who previously served on OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP’s board have agreed under pressure to testify this week before a U.S. House of Representatives panel examining the nationwide opioid epidemic, avoiding subpoenas threatened by the committee’s chairwoman, Reuters reported. David and Kathe Sackler reached an agreement in recent days with the House Oversight Committee to appear at a hearing set for Thursday, according to a memo yesterday from Democratic Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney to members of the panel. The two are among the Sackler family members who own Purdue. Purdue Chief Executive Craig Landau is also slated to testify at the hearing, the memo said. Landau was not at any point threatened with a subpoena. The opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of roughly 450,000 people in the United States since 1999 due to overdoses from prescription painkillers and illegal substances such as heroin and fentanyl, constituting an enduring public health crisis. Purdue reaped more than $30 billion from opioid sales over the years that enriched Sackler family members, and it funneled illegal kickbacks to doctors and pharmacies, investigations have found. Purdue in November pleaded guilty to criminal charges over its handling of OxyContin, which included defrauding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and paying illegal kickbacks to doctors and a healthcare records vendor, all to help keep opioid prescriptions flowing. The plea deal was part of a broader settlement allowing the company to effectively sidestep paying billions of dollars in penalties. Sackler family members agreed to pay $225 million to resolve Justice Department civil claims that they disputed. They were not criminally charged. The Justice Department contends that the settlement, which foregoes most of a $2 billion forfeiture on the condition Purdue receives court approval for its bankruptcy plan, allows more money to flow to U.S. communities suffering from the opioid epidemic.

Purdue Pharma LP creditors pressing for confidential documents have provided “no evidence” that members of the billionaire Sackler family committed crimes or fraud while managing the opioid maker, lawyers for the family argue in court papers, Bloomberg News reported. States suing Purdue say that the privileged documents could help show that billions of dollars transferred out of the firm in recent years should belong to creditors. The family has denied allegations of wrongdoing and is fighting to keep the documents confidential. The ongoing battle took a turn in October when Purdue agreed to plead guilty to three felonies related to its handling of OxyContin. Members of the Sackler family that own and previously helped manage the company agreed to a separate $225 million civil settlement, without admitting wrongdoing. In papers filed alongside the civil settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that despite knowing in 2012 that the legitimate market for opioids had contracted, members of the Sackler family “requested that Purdue executives recapture lost sales and increase Purdue’s share of the opioid market,” resulting in the approval of an “aggressive marketing program” that led to the over-prescribing of the drugs. Creditors cited that deal and Purdue’s plea agreement as evidence of wrongdoing by the Sacklers, but lawyers for the family members point to their continued denial of any misconduct — neither deal included an admission of wrongdoing from the family members. The settlements will provide “substantial funding to communities in need, rather than to years of legal proceedings,” members of the family said in an October statement.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Vermont in Burlington confirmed the chapter 11 reorganization plans of Springfield Medical Care Systems and Springfield Hospital, allowing the two related organizations to exit bankruptcy, the Valley News reported. Bankruptcy Judge Colleen A. Brown confirmed the exit plans, which hinge in large part on exit funding from the state of Vermont, in hearings yesterday. The confirmation of the plans is the final step in the reorganization process the two related entities began in June 2019 when they faced a total of roughly $20 million in debt. As a result of the restructuring, the two organizations — the hospital and the health care system’s outpatient clinics — will have separate boards of directors, but will continue to work together to provide care to patients.

The U.S. Small Business Administration opposes Astria Health’s bankruptcy plan, saying $2.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans it received in June should be considered a high-ranking claim in its reorganization, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The SBA said that Astria is claiming that the loans needn’t be repaid. “While a PPP loan may be forgivable under certain circumstances, it is nevertheless a loan, not a grant,” the SBA said on Friday in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Yakima, Wash. The Sunnyside, Wash.-based nonprofit health system, which filed for chapter 11 last year, will seek approval of its bankruptcy plan in mid-December. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or Cares Act, in response to the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Its programs include PPP loans. The SBA’s PPP application says that bankrupt companies aren’t eligible for the loans, causing banks to deny their requests. But some legal experts, affected companies and at least two federal judges have said nothing in the Cares Act indicates Congress meant to withhold stimulus funds from troubled companies that have turned to bankruptcy. Some businesses have sued the SBA over the matter. Astria sued the SBA in May and sought a temporary restraining order, asking the court to require the federal agency to consider its PPP application despite the business being in bankruptcy. The SBA opposed the motion. The court in June granted Astria’s motion and a preliminary injunction, and shortly thereafter Astria received the PPP loans. The SBA has appealed.

Junior creditors of Senior Care Centers LLC are suing the former controlling shareholder and a major landlord of the skilled nursing facilities operator for more than $100 million, saying that the business fell into bankruptcy after its assets were plundered, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Alan Halperin, a trustee for unsecured creditors in the chapter 11 case, on Thursday filed a complaint against Granite Investment Group and related affiliates, alleging they extracted tens of millions of dollars at the expense of other creditors. Those “self-dealing transactions,” Halperin said, included charging above-market-rate leases of skilled nursing facilities. Dallas-based Senior Care filed for bankruptcy in December 2018, partly blaming ballooning rents and saying it needed to address “burdensome debt levels and expensive leases” at skilled nursing and assisted- and independent-living facilities. Bankruptcy law gives struggling businesses more power to get out of or renegotiate leases. The company entered bankruptcy with about 110 facilities that served more than 9,000 patients.

Lenders to Equinox Holdings Inc. are preparing for talks regarding a potential rescue loan that would help the high-end fitness chain refinance looming debt and avoid bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A new loan could provide the funding the company needs to bridge the gap until the anticipated widespread distribution of a vaccine for COVID-19 next year, and an eventual return to normalcy for the fitness industry. New York-based Equinox is on the hook for a looming $73 million maturity in February on debt tied to its subsidiary, SoulCycle. The company might also need additional funding to bolster its cash reserves as gym attendance will likely remain thin for months before the vaccine is widely circulated. Talks are in early stages and include professionals representing the company and its lenders, people familiar with the matter said. An Equinox spokeswoman said the company isn’t currently in discussions with lenders.