The next chapter in the Steward Healthcare crisis is set to begin this week, with the embattled company's CEO stepping down and hospitals being taken over by other healthcare groups.
Steward, a Texas-based company that filed for bankruptcy in May amid financial crisis, has operated a handful of hospitals in Massachusetts. It recently shuttered the doors of two of them — Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.
The state has been heavily involved in managing the crisis, with Gov. Maura Healey's administration announcing that new operators have been secured for remaining Steward hospitals, and transfers of ownership expected to take effect on Tuesday.
Lawrence General Hospital will take over both campuses of Holy Family, in Haverhill and Methuen. Lifespan will take over operations at Morton Hospital in Taunton and Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River. Boston Medical Center is becoming the operator of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton.
Also happening on Tuesday, the resignation of Steward CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre is due to go into effect, after news broke over the weekend that he would be stepping down.
De la Torre has come under fire by New England leaders, who blame his "greed and mismanagement" as a contributing factor in the company's financial issues.
Last week, a U.S. Senate committee investigating the situation voted to hold de la Torre in contempt for failing to testify before a Senate panel. De la Torre did not appear before it despite being issued a subpoena. The resolution refers the matter to a federal prosecutor.
A spokesperson for de la Torre said that he was exercising his fifth amendment rights in not testifying.
A statement from his spokesperson placed blame on Massachusetts for his company's financial issues.
"Dr. de la Torre urges continued focus on this mission and believes Steward’s financial challenges put a much-needed spotlight on Massachusetts’s ongoing failure to fix its healthcare structure and the inequities in its state system," the statement reads.
Meanwhile, the asset management group over St. Elizabeth's is at odds with the Healey Administration, after Healey announced on Friday that the state was seizing the Brighton medical center using eminent domain to ensure that it stays open.
Apollo apparently refused Boston Medical Center's bids for the property, prompting the state to step in.
“While Apollo continues to put its greed ahead of the health and wellbeing of the people of Massachusetts, we are taking action to make sure St. Elizabeth’s remains open. By transferring operations to Boston Medical Center, we will protect access to care for tens of thousands of patients and save thousands of jobs,” Healey wrote in a news release.
The land owner is pushing back against the move by the state, calling the use of eminent domain in this situation "unconstitutional" and vowing to pursue continued litigation.
"Taking the property for a fraction of the assessed value is theft and everyone in Massachusetts--every business owner and homeowner--should be concerned about this threat," a spokesperson for the company wrote.
Meanwhile, patients will surely have to deal with the growing pains that come with the changing of hands at these hospitals that serve Massachusetts communities.
The Healey Administration also announced working groups to look into how to bolster healthcare in places impacted by the recent Steward closures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
