The pattern persists: A Steward Health Care lawyer tells a judge the bankrupt company is close on deals to sell five of its Massachusetts hospitals and hopes to present formal proposals soon, then no details of the deals come to light and the company again delays the hearing at which it is expected to seek court approval of the transfers.
The company said in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing Monday morning that the sale hearing on the calendar for Tuesday afternoon has been unilaterally "adjourned" until Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m. ET, a postponement of more than a week.
Though her administration had previously said it would be up to Steward to announce the progress of its bankruptcy-compelled selloff, Gov. Maura Healey announced 10 days ago, on Aug. 16, that deals were in place to sell St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton to Boston Medical Center, for Lawrence General Hospital to buy the Holy Family Hospital facilities in Methuen and Haverhill, and for Lifespan to take over Morton Hospital in Taunton and Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River, as long as the deals were finalized and approved (and in the case of St. Elizabeth's, after the state seizes the land).
No additional details of those supposed deals — or of a reported $700 million public financial aid package seen as key to the transition away from Steward — have come to light since, and Steward has declined to confirm or comment on Healey's announcement. A Steward lawyer told a Bankruptcy Court judge last week that none of the deals to transfer Massachusetts hospitals to other operators have been consummated and they remain under mediation.
"We have not yet executed asset purchase agreements related to the six hospitals, but again, we are very close to the finish line and are still fully engaged in mediation," Candace Arthur, one of Steward's lawyers from the firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, said Thursday. "We hope to be back before the court in very short order in connection with the Massachusetts hospitals and the transition there."
Steward filed for bankruptcy protections on May 6 and the Massachusetts hospital sale hearing (which also includes hospitals in Arkansas and Louisiana) was originally scheduled to be held July 2.
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Massachusetts state government struck a deal with Steward to provide $30 million in advance Medicaid payments to keep hospitals here afloat through August, but a different Steward lawyer suggested in court on Aug. 16 that there could be the need for "emergency relief related to the hospitals in Massachusetts." The lawyer said "we believe we've secured funding, if necessary to close those purchases, at least on the operating costs through September."
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond Monday to a question from State House News Service about the state's support for Steward hospitals and whether the state would provide additional financial aid to keep Steward's hospitals running as the sale process drags into September.
