HealthSouth Asks for Creditors’ Patience
From Bloomberg News
HealthSouth Corp., the hospital company accused of $2.5 billion in accounting fraud, said that it might be able to avoid seeking Bankruptcy Court protection and asked its creditors to be patient.
“With another 90 to 120 days ... we think our company has an awful good chance of avoiding bankruptcy,” HealthSouth Chairman Joel Gordon said.
HealthSouth defaulted on bond payments and a bank loan agreement following U.S. allegations in March that the Birmingham, Ala.-based company and former Chief Executive Richard Scrushy fabricated profits. The company will meet with advisors in the next week to devise a more detailed plan. HealthSouth owes bank lenders and bondholders more than $3.3 billion.
