News
Steward Health Care files for bankruptcy amid financial crisis
Colin A. Young | State House News Service
The operator of Massachusetts’ third-largest hospital system and one of the state’s largest employers declared bankruptcy Monday morning.
Health Care Administratorwhich operates eight Bay State hospitals and is sinking into a pile of debt to suppliers and its de facto owner, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas, seeking legal protection to restructure its debt while leaving its hospitals open.
The company said it does not expect any disruption to daily operations and that the bankruptcy filing was “a necessary step to allow the Company to continue to provide necessary care to its patients in its communities without interruption.”
“Steward Health Care has done everything in its power to operate successfully in a highly challenging healthcare environment. Filing for Chapter 11 restructuring is in the best interests of our patients, physicians, employees and communities at this time,” said Steward Health Care’s CEO Steward, Ralph de la Torre said.
They cited insufficient government reimbursement as labor costs “skyrocketed[ed]”, as well as inflation, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and delays in a proposed deal to sell its physician network as reasons for the move.
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In the hours since Steward Health Care announced the bankruptcy filing in a late-night press release, the state has launched a website (mass.gov\stewardresources) with resources about the situation and created a hotline for concerned patients and providers of health. care providers. The hotline is 617-468-2189 (local) or 833-305-2070 (toll-free).
Governor Maura Healey and her administration emphasized in a press conference at the State House at 10 a.m. Monday that care will continue at Steward Hospitals throughout the bankruptcy process, and that the action brings Steward one step closer to leaving the state – as Healey repeatedly appealed to the company to leave Massachusetts.
“Hospitals that were open yesterday remain open today,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh. “Providers who were employed yesterday remain employed today and community care that you had access to yesterday, you can access today. Today’s bankruptcy filing does not change that. What bankruptcy means is that a federal court in Texas will work with the Steward’s creditors, our legal representation and others to address your financial challenges.”
The state government will also send legal advisors to represent the Bay State’s interests in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in Texas, Walsh said.
Healey repeatedly asked patients to continue their appointments at Steward hospitals. Hospitals across the state have been buckling under the weight of increased patient demand, which intersects with the state’s shrinking healthcare workforce.
“We want people to hear from the Department of Public Health that it is safe to receive care at Steward facilities because the facilities are open,” said DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein. “If you have chest pain, if you are pregnant and about to give birth, please go to the hospital closest to you, the hospital that is in your community.”
Steward operates eight hospitals in Massachusetts: St. and St. Anne’s in Fall River.
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The state government announced on Friday that it has launched an incident command system to track and respond to the financial turmoil in Steward.
Responses to Steward’s bankruptcy filing came in from across the stateincluding the Chamber of Deputies setting a date next week to hold a massive healthcare reform projectthe attorney general stated that his office was trying to hold hospital executives accountable, and the state’s health care cost oversight agency announced that it is still missing the necessary financial documents it has been requesting from Steward for more than a month.
“Next week, the House will pass comprehensive legislation to address the gaps in our regulatory process that Steward exploited, to stabilize the health care system, and to address the rising cost of health care,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano , in a statement Monday morning. .
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Attorney General Andrea Campbell praised the legislative action during Monday’s press conference, adding that “we are of course continuing to work with the Senate on their proposal.”
The 97-page House oversight bill aims to stabilize the spiraling healthcare industry, strengthen data reporting requirements and increase fines for violators — after Steward hospital executives allegedly failed to produce legally required financial reports for years – and safeguard residents’ access to care. The bill would also give new authority to the Health Policy Commission as regulators seek to rein in health care spending.
HPC has been asking for more muscle for years, saying it could do more as an agency if it could better enforce cost growth beyond expectations.
The agency is also seeking to review the proposed sale of Steward’s physician network to for-profit OptumCare.
The proposed deal is to sell Stewardship Health Inc., the parent company of Stewardship Health Medical Group Inc., which employs primary care physicians and other physicians in nine states, to OptumCare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
The agency said in late March that once all necessary information about the sale is provided, HPC will have 30 days to assess the potential impacts of the transaction. However, in a statement released on Monday after the bankruptcy filingthe HPC said it does not yet have the necessary information.
“HPC has begun reviewing the proposed sale of Stewardship Health, Inc. and Steward Health Care Network, Inc. to OptumCare based on available information, however, the parties have not yet submitted key required information and many details are still pending. The filing of the material change notice (MCN) is not complete until HPC receives the definitive agreement governing the transaction and other requested information and documents that are necessary to conduct a preliminary review of the potential impacts on healthcare costs. and the functioning of the market”, said the agency.
Meanwhile, de la Torre said the delay in the OptumCare deal is one of the reasons for the bankruptcy filing.
“With the delay in closing the Stewardship Health transaction, Stewardship was forced to seek alternative methods to bridge its operations. With the additional financing in this process, we are confident that we will keep hospitals open, supplied and operating so that our care for our patients and our employees is maintained. By working collaboratively with stakeholders in this court-controlled and supervised environment, and having the benefit of our prior strategic efforts, Steward will be better positioned to make a responsible transition of ownership of its headquartered hospitals. in Massachusetts, keeping all of its hospitals open to treat patients and ensure continued care and service for our patients and our communities,” he said in a statement.
The news service asked Healey about Steward blaming his bankruptcy in part for the delay in the Optum deal.
“You know, one of the good things about bankruptcy is that Steward, his CEO and his management team will no longer be able to lie,” she said. “Transparency is really important here, and that’s why we’re eager to see what’s in the various documents that will be before the court, because we need transparency. We need clarity on debt and liabilities as we evaluate opportunities and restructuring as we move forward. .”
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Healey repeatedly called on Steward to leave the state, calling de la Torre and other company officials “greedy” and “selfish.”
When Steward purchased several hospitals in the Bay State in 2010, then-Attorney General Martha Coakley said transferring hospitals to a private equity-backed company was in the public interest, calling charitable hospital systems “impractical, if not impossible.” .
However, since news broke that Steward allegedly failed to pay suppliers and its landlord, and withheld legally required financial information from state regulators for years, both state and federal politicians have called for a closer look at the role of private capital. in healthcare.
Campbell said his office is looking at options to hold Steward operators accountable.
“How do we ensure accountability? I know the public is eager to get answers on this. And I can’t at this time talk about this work until it’s done. And you’ll hear from us in a timely manner, with a sense of urgency,” he said Campbell. “I also want to make it very clear that I take very seriously any efforts for this hospital system to make a profit at the expense of patients to strip value from hospitals. And whether these efforts violated the law, those involved will absolutely hear from our office at the appropriate time .”
The governor, during her press conference, renewed her calls for Steward to leave Massachusetts.
“Ultimately, this is a step toward our goal of getting Steward out of Massachusetts,” Healey said. “And it allows us to do so to protect access to care, preserve jobs and stabilize our healthcare system. Of course, we cannot guarantee that there will be no disruption or inconvenience, and I understand that members of the public are concerned about what this means to them and their families in terms of access to care.”
Later, when asked what kind of disruptions she foresees, the governor said, “I just want to acknowledge reality.
“When we wake up to the news that this major hospital system in Massachusetts has filed for bankruptcy, it can cause a lot of alarm and concern among residents. But I wanted to be here today with our team to tell people that we are preparing for this,” she said.