Church Street Health Management Files for Bankruptcy With Plan for Sale

Church Street Health Management LLC and four affiliates, providers of management services to 67 dental centers, filed for bankruptcy as part of a plan to sell the businesses.

The companies had assets valued at $895.3 million and debt of $303.4 million, according to Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nashville, Tennessee, where Church Street is based.

A sale in bankruptcy is the “best option to maximize the value of the assets for stakeholders and to safeguard the welfare of the patients,” Martin McGahan, Church Street’s chief restructuring officer, said in court papers.

Affiliates Small Smiles Holding Co., Forba NY LLC, EEHC Inc. and Forba Services Inc. also sought court protection from creditors. Small Smiles is the parent of a group of companies that provide management services to dental centers serving low- income families in 22 states.

The 20 largest unsecured creditors are owed about $21.1 million, according to court documents. National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units is the largest, owed about $10.7 million for a settlement. Twelve state Medicaid Fraud Control units are collectively owed about $6.2 million.

The case is In re Church Street Health Management LLC, 12-01573, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville).

To contact the reporter on this story: Dawn McCarty in Wilmington at dmccarty@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net