Massachusetts Steward hospitals fates “in the hands of the lenders,” Healey says

• Michael P. Norton

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 8, 2024….Describing herself as “pleased” that a federal court approved state aid to continue operations at Steward Health Care hospitals, Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday that “things are moving quickly” towards the potential transfer of five threatened Massachusetts hospitals to new owners.

“Things are moving quickly I think right now in the bankruptcy court,” Healey told reporters at the State House. “I’m cautiously optimistic but it’s right now in the hands of the lenders.”

An attorney representing Steward told the court Tuesday that Medical Properties Trust and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners reached an agreement in principle with their lender Apollo Global Management to hand over the property on which Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals are located.

“Further, significant progress has been made in terms of both the commercial terms and the purchase agreements with respect to the sale of the hospital real property and operations to the bidders for the Massachusetts hospitals, each of which are high-quality local operators,” David Cohen, an attorney from Weil, Gotshal & Manges who represented Steward on Tuesday, told Judge Christopher Lopez.

Steward has seven hospitals in Massachusetts on eight campuses and plans to close two — Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer — at the end of August. Supporters of those two hospitals are rallying to save them, but Healey said she is focused on the five others.

“We continue to encourage … the lenders to reach that deal — Apollo [Global Management] and the landlords need to reach and finalize the deal so that the five other hospitals can continue,” Healey said Wednesday.

Cohen said Tuesday that it was a sign of the “significant progress” being made that Massachusetts state government was prepared to enter into a $30 million funding agreement with Steward “to allow the parties to continue to advance negotiations and sign purchase agreements in the coming days, all with the goal of being back in front of your honor next week seeking approval of such sales.”

Lopez is expected to hold an Aug. 13 hearing related to the sales of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, and Holy Family Hospital with campuses in Methuen and Haverhill.

On Tuesday, Healey said that “unfortunately there was no bid that came forward that qualified” for Carney and Nashoba, and that she was “focused on saving five community hospitals.”

In a July 30 court filing, the Massachusetts Nurses Association questioned Steward’s claims about the lack of qualified bids.

“The Debtors fail to explain what is meant by ‘actionable’ or ‘viable; bids, nor do the Debtors assert that they did not receive offers for Carney and Nashoba Valley,” Sam Alberts of Dentons wrote in the nurses union filing. “Nor can they. Based upon information and belief, including the language in the Motions, both hospitals received bids from at least one potential purchaser. Why the Debtors have determined bids for Nashoba Valley and Carney are not actionable is unknown, as the Debtors have failed to provide MNA with copies of bids, despite repeated requests and approved bid procedures that were intended to provide MNA with a role in the sales process.”

As part of the court-approved closings, Steward is planning 753 layoffs at Carney and 490 at Nashoba Valley for Aug. 31, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act notices.

“My heart goes out to folks, both health care workers who are affected by all of this and certainly patients or those who are concerned about receiving care in their community,” the governor told reporters. “As governor, I don’t want to see people not having access to health care. I don’t want to see health care workers out of jobs.”

Healey said that “if there are closures,” the state will work to ensure that workers “have access to resources that they need, and also that patients have clear direction and guidance as to where they can go and where they can get the health care that they need.”