BOSTON (AP) — Steward Healthcare says it has reached an agreement to sell its nationwide physician network to a private equity firm.
The deal comes as Steward is scheduled to go before a bankruptcy court judge on Friday about its plans to sell six Massachusetts hospitals. The Dallas-based company announced bankruptcy on May 6.
Steward said in a statement Monday that it had entered into a “definitive agreement” to sell its Stewardship Health business, which employs about 5,000 physicians treating about 400,000 patients in Massachusetts and nine other states, to Rural Healthcare Group, an affiliate of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries LLC.
Steward said the transaction, which is subject to regulatory review, will be a great outcome for patients and physicians. “Stewardship Health will continue to serve our loyal Massachusetts patients under new leadership,” the company said in a statement Monday.
Steward Healthcare President Mark Rich said Kinderhook has “more than 20 years of experience investing in mid-sized health care businesses serving some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.”
The stewards previously Selling your doctor networkSteward announced in March that it had signed a letter of intent to sell Stewardship to health insurer UnitedHealth’s Optum division. The deal ultimately did not go through.
Steward Hospital and its CEO, Ralph de la Torre, have faced intense criticism for a series of decisions that critics, including Gov. Maura Healey, say contributed to the bankruptcy. Healey said he was focused on salvaging the remaining Steward Hospitals, which have found qualified bidders.
“I have repeatedly spoken of my distaste for Ralph de la Torre and the Steward management team,” the former attorney general said Monday. “I hope the federal government comes after him hard and puts him behind bars.”
Steward Bankruptcy announced on May 6th And two days later, they announced their plans. Selling 30 hospitals it operates Nationwide
A bankruptcy court judge last month upheld Steward’s decision to close two Massachusetts hospitals. Steward filed suit on July 26. Close the hospital The company had said it would stop bidding on or around Aug. 31 for both Carney Hospital in Boston and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer because it had received no qualified bids for either facility.
Steward is obligated to make lease payments after selling the hospital’s physical assets, including its land and buildings, to another company. Both Steward and the state argue that the company makes it difficult to transfer ownership of the hospital by requiring potential buyers to cover the lease payments rather than negotiating their own leases or purchasing the hospital assets outright.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston last month granted Steward’s motion to set aside the master lease that binds the Massachusetts hospital on Wednesday.
Massachusetts agreed. Provide approximately $30 million To help operate six hospitals that Steward Health Care is turning over to new owners. The payments are an advance on Medicaid funds the state owes Steward.
A U.S. Senate committee last month Allow investigation He filed bankruptcy for Steward and subpoenaed La Torre.
Steward currently operates more than 30 hospitals in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Massachusetts.
Steve LeBlanc, The Associated Press
