New operators have taken over at six former Steward medical centers in Massachusetts, and Governor Maura Healey is calling the transition "a new chapter for health care" in the Bay State.
Boston Medical Center has taken over at Good Samaritan in Brockton and St. Elizabeth's in Brighton. Lawrence General Hospital is now operating both campuses of Holy Family, in Haverhill and Methuen.
Lifespan is running Morton Hospital in Taunton and Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River.
“Today, these hospitals are freed from Steward’s greed and mismanagement, and start fresh with established, reputable and local operators,” Healey wrote in a statement. “They are ready to not only keep these hospitals going, but to enhance the care they provide and strengthen the communities that depend on them."
The CEO of the embattled Texas-based company, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, is officially stepping down on Tuesday as well, amid a Congressional probe into Steward's financial crisis. On Monday, de la Torre filed a lawsuit against the lawmakers on the Senate committee, claiming they are violating his constitutional rights.
While de la Torre has blamed his company's financial issues on Massachusetts' healthcare structure, New England leaders have accused the since-resigned CEO of being greedy.
Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts said that over the past decade, Steward, led by de la Torre, and its corporate enablers, “looted hospitals across the country for profit, and got rich through their greedy schemes.”
Alexander Merton, an attorney for de la Torre, has said the fault instead lies with “the systemic failures in Massachusetts’ health care system” and that the committee was trying to frame de la Torre as a criminal scapegoat. Merton has also said that de la Torre would agree to testify at a later date.
Another legal battle is brewing between the Healey Administration and the land owner at St. Elizabeth's, Apollo. The state announced last Friday that it was seizing the hospital with eminent domain, because the company would not accept BMC's bid for the real estate.
Apollo called the seizure unconstitutional and said it would continue to pursue litigation.
