Dentons US was honored by The M&A Advisor with its Restructuring Deal of the Year award (US$50MM to US$100MM) for its representation of Borrego Community Health Foundation (BCHF) in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in San Diego, California. Winners will be recognized at the 18^th Annual Turnaround Awards in March in Palm Beach, Florida.

BCHF ran 18 clinics in Southern California, which provided essential and irreplaceable healthcare to almost 100,000 rural and low-income patients annually. It faced a crisis when the California Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) threatened to suspend Medi-Cal payments, which would have forced the closure of BCHF’s clinics, jeopardizing care for BCHF’s patients and putting hundreds out of work. The Dentons team, led by Los Angeles partners Samuel Maizel and Tania Moyron, quickly filed for Chapter 11 on behalf of BCHF and commenced litigation to challenge the suspension. The Dentons team expertly executed a strategy that stopped the suspension, secured a favorable settlement with DHCS, and then orchestrated the sale of BCHF’s operations and clinics for more than US$50 million, ensuring full payment to creditors and preserving essential healthcare services throughout Southern California.

The success of this case represents the collaborative and cooperative efforts of many parties beyond Dentons, including Ankura, the financial advisors to BCHF; Hooper Lundy & Bookman, the special healthcare law advisors to BCHF; and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones and FTI Consulting, the advisors to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.