Southcoast Health announces interest in acquiring St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River

Southcoast Health is showing interest in acquiring St. Anne’s Hospital due to the financial struggles of Steward Health Care.

According to State House News Service, Steward Health Care’s landlord said that “Steward hospitals have drawn significant interest from other potential operators, the latest hint that facilities might soon be transferred away from the financially floundering for-profit system.”

A day after Gov. Maura Healey issued a biting call for Steward to hand off its licensed, operational Bay State hospitals to new parties “as soon as possible,” the firm that owns the hospital real estate suggested there could be a willing market.

“With regard to Steward, we are encouraged by the amount of interest received to date from other hospital operators for these mission-critical facilities, and we expect this real estate portfolio will either resume its contributions to earnings or become additional sources of liquidity as the year progresses,” said Edward Aldag Jr., CEO of Medical Properties Trust.

David O. McCready, President & CEO of Southcoast Health, announced in a letter Friday the interest to acquire one of Steward’s hospitals, St. Anne’s in Fall River.

“As I approach my first 100 Days as President and CEO of Southcoast Health, I can state most sincerely that nothing is as important to me in my role as the wellbeing of families in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“That is why I am so alarmed at the recent news that Steward Health Care plans to sell off its nine hospitals in Massachusetts, including St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River.

“As you can imagine, this will be a complex transaction involving multiple parties – with the potential to be truly devastating for these hospitals’ patients and employees if there is an interruption of service. In the worst case, if Steward and their partners fail to find a buyer, or enough buyers, they may have to close one or more of their hospitals. 

“St. Anne’s patients and employees are part of our community; they are our family members, friends and neighbors. This is why we are taking action to step up and care for our community as we always have, and why we are announcing our strong interest in having St. Anne’s Hospital join the Southcoast Health family.

“The fact is, Southcoast Health is the only health system that can offer the exceptional, comprehensive care and service that all the families of our region deserve. As our region’s only not-for-profit health system, we have proven that there is no one else – no one in Boston, in Providence, nationally or elsewhere – who can provide the same level of dedicated and skilled clinical care and service that we provide to this community every day.

“As we engage with Steward, our message to them is clear: The best option for St. Anne’s Hospital, its patients, its employees, and our community, is for St. Anne’s to join the Southcoast Health family.

“National health systems, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, have much less at stake when it comes to public health and community outreach in the areas where they operate. Large Boston- or Providence-based health systems provide exceptional care, as we do, but they would likely require or direct patients to travel to their cities for specialized treatment, increasing the cost of care while reducing access to care for all communities.

“Ultimately, our goal is to further provide our region with patient-centered, community-based healthcare, and to offer employment opportunities to talented caregivers and healthcare workers currently serving Steward’s patients.

“Our next step is to conduct thorough due diligence to determine whether an acquisition to any degree would be viable. I will keep you informed throughout this process.”