Sale of six Massachusetts hospitals moving forward

Massachusetts officials have been pushing to see Steward Health Care hospitals under new ownership, and it’s moving closer to reality.

A federal bankruptcy judge has signed off on the sale of six Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts.

This week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez approved Steward’s sale of six Massachusetts hospitals to new owners for a total of $343 million. The judge issued an order that sets a closing date for the sale of the facilities by the end of the month.

Three health systems are planning to buy the Steward hospitals. Here are the reported deals, according to NBC10 in Boston and other media groups. All of the buyers are non-profit organizations.

• Lifespan, the health system based in Providence, R.I., is purchasing Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Mass., and Morton Hospital in Taunton, Mass., for $175 million.
• Boston Medical Center is buying Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston for $140 million.
• Lawrence General Hospital is purchasing Holy Family Hospital-Methuen and Holy Family Hospital-Haverhill for $28 million.

The deals are still subject to review of state and federal regulators.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association welcomed the prospect of new ownership for the Steward hospitals.

“This is a long-awaited and very positive development for the communities and dedicated workforce at these facilities and we look forward to working with all parties to ensure a smooth transition for these facilities to new operators in the coming days and weeks,” the association said in a statement.

The nurses association said it is in conversation with the organizations acquiring the hospitals to address concerns. The union also said it wants to ensure that contracts are maintained for nurses and other healthcare workers.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s administration helped line up new ownership for the hospitals and also provided $30 million in state aid to keep them operating. Healey said she was taking over St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston via eminent domain to keep the hospital open, and would facilitate the transfer to its new owners.

“We’ve said from the start that our focus was on protecting access to care, jobs and the stability of our health care system – and getting Steward out of Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement Aug. 30.

However, two Steward hospitals in Massachusetts closed their doors last week: Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center. Nurses and some elected officials are continuing to press the state to find ownership for the two hospitals.

The nurses association said this week “the loss of these hospitals would precipitate a public disaster for those communities.”

State officials say they are working to offer support to the communities affected by the closures. But some state lawmakers and residents say they’re frustrated the state hasn’t found a way to keep the hospitals open, especially after taking strong action to preserve the other Steward hospitals.

Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and has been working to sell its 31 hospitals in eight states, along with hundreds of associated healthcare facilities. Last week, Steward announced it had reached an agreement in principle with Medical Properties Trust, its landlord, to facilitate the transfer of the hospitals. Steward said the deal would keep most of the hospitals and facilities open.

Also this week, Steward CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre indicated he would not attend a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing slated next week on the for-profit health system’s bankruptcy.

Lawmakers lambasted de la Torre for not appearing. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., slammed the Steward CEO’s refusal to testify at the hearing.

“It is long past time that Dr. de la Torre come out of hiding and answer for the harm he’s inflicted on our communities,” Markey said in a statement.

With Steward struggling financially, Healey and other Massachusetts officials urged the health system to transfer the facilities months ago, citing concerns about the safety of patients.

Medical Properties Trust owns Steward’s hospital real estate, and Steward said it had owed $9 billion when declaring bankruptcy. Steward said last week that the system and Medical Properties Trust have agreed on the “release of billions of dollars of claims held by MPT against Steward.”

Steward says the agreement also allows the system to retain the proceeds of sales from three hospitals on Florida’s “Space Coast” to pay lenders and creditors. Orlando Health has put in a $439 million bid to purchase the three hospitals.