A Suffolk County Superior Court judge has appointed a representative to liquidate Sleep HealthCenters’ assets and pay the company’s debts. The chain of sleep clinics closed last month, citing financial trouble partly resulting from changes in how health insurers pay for sleep-disorder testing.

The company owed Rockland Trust Company about $1.6 million under a loan agreement from 2009, when the company acquired a group of Arizona sleep clinics, according to court records. The bank filed a complaint on Feb. 1 requesting receivership, in which the judge directs an independent entity to manage the dissolution of the company. Receivership is generally seen as an alternative to bankruptcy.