Hawaii Medical Center won an important victory in U.S. Bankruptcy Court today, overcoming protests by creditors that included Franciscan sisters who sold the two hospitals to the company.

Judge Robert Faris approved HMC’s disclosure statement for its plan of reorganization, ruling it provided adequate information for creditors. He said that approving it moved the case a step closer to conclusion rather than going “back to the drawing board” as some creditors had asked.
“We’re really pleased that our disclosure statement was accepted,” said Salim Hasham, HMC chief operations and restructuring officer, outside of court.
“We have a lot of work to do in coming weeks and will be working with our secured and unsecured creditors -- St. Francis among them -- to fine tune our reorganization plan.”
HMC filed for bankruptcy in August, some 20 months after buying the former St. Francis Medical Centers on Oçahu. The seller, St. Francis Health Care System of Hawaii, has been critical of HMC during the bankruptcy and had opposed approval of the disclosure statement, which provides details on HMC’s reorganization plan.