PE-Backed Prison Health Firm Wellpath Declares Bankruptcy
- H.I.G.-backed firm failed to repay credit facility recently
- Prison service industry faces high labor costs, debt piles
Wellpath Holdings Inc., one of the largest providers of health-care services to prisons and jails across the US, has filed bankruptcy after grappling with escalating labor and legal costs.
The H.I.G. Capital-backed firm, which has about $644 million of funded debt, filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. In a separate statement, Wellpath said it has secured a $522 million debtor-in-possession financing facility from some lenders and plans to sell some businesses.