ST. LOUIS — A primary creditor of the owner of St. Alexius Hospital in south St. Louis has offered a plan to take control of the facility, which is for sale after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December.
A hedge fund called The Third Friday Fund Total Return LP, of Delray Beach, Florida, earlier this month filed a plan in which it would give up its $25 million claim against Americore Holdings in exchange for complete control of the company and affiliates, including St. Alexius. Under the plan, Third Friday also would pay up to $22 million to secured creditors, plus $5 million to unsecured creditors.
Any such plan would need the approval of creditors and the court.
Third Friday's proposal comes with just two weeks left for potential buyers of the property to submit bids. So far the hospital has not received any bids, which are due June 29.
Americore in January 2018 entered into a loan agreement with Third Friday. A year later, it received approval to pay $10 million to acquire St. Alexius, a 190-bed facility at 3933 S. Broadway, out of bankruptcy court from its prior owner, Florida-based Promise Healthcare Group.
Then, in December 2019, Americore and St. Alexius filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Louisville bankruptcy court. In court filings, Americore CEO Grant White blamed Lewitt for Americore's bankruptcy filing, claiming Third Friday transferred money out of St. Alexius accounts. Lewitt saw the bankruptcy filing as fraudulent, and alleged that Americore had been mismanaged by White.
A bankruptcy court judge in February removed White as CEO of Americore and later appointed Carol Fox to oversee operations as trustee.
Meanwhile, Fox last week filed filed a motion in bankruptcy court to sell the hospital's medical residency slots to SSM Health for $2.5 million.
SSM would get 140.5 residency slots for the 2021 academic training year.
Documents seeking approval for the sale say St. Alexius has 190 licensed beds and 340 employees. Over 80% of its inpatients are psychiatric patients, they say.
More from the Business Journal
- Gyms turn to high tech to get customers back
- St. Louis-area libraries, booksellers see influx of demand for books about race
- St. Louis marijuana firm will be first in state to begin operations
- Theaters rebuild from canceled, delayed seasons
- Washington University mouse model to help speed up COVID-19 research
