Archdiocese objects on Steward sale
Church says $25M owed, if hospitals sold, per original agreement
Court filings show Steward Healthcare will push this week to move forward with the auction of its hospital businesses, including the eight locations in Massachusetts, amid objections voiced in other filings on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas, on Monday, will be asked to approve a sale plan offered by Steward that will see them auction most of their hospital properties, including those in the Bay State, on June 27. The healthcare system’s remaining hospitals, four in Texas and several in Florida, will be auctioned on August 13, according to a proposed court order offered by the company’s lawyers late last week.
Lawyers for the Archbishop of Boston warned in a separate filing that the plan to sell the hospitals is coming together without consideration of the original agreement made a decade and a half ago between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and Steward’s owners to buy the former-Catholic hospitals.
That agreement, according to lawyers for the the church, put some serious conditions on Steward if they choose to sell former Caritas Christi hospitals for any reason, including that they “make a $25 million dollar contribution to a Massachusetts public charity designated by RCAB and that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Attorney General” and return Catholic religious items found at the hospitals to the Archdiocese.
In asking the court to allow them to sell the hospitals, church lawyers say the now-bankrupt healthcare company failed to indicate “whether Steward intends to terminate the Agreement or whether it intends on complying with the Agreements’ sale, merger, and transfer provisions.”
“Similarly, the Motion is silent on whether the Stewardship Agreement was made available to prospective purchasers and whether prospective purchasers are aware of the Agreement’s restrictions on the transfer of Restricted Names and Religious Items. Nor does the motion address whether Steward is seeking to sell the Religious Items or whether Steward has carved out the Religious Items from its proposed sale,” lawyers for the church wrote.
The U.S. Department of Justice also raised objections to the quick sale of the hospitals, noting that the government is in the middle of antitrust considerations centered around Steward’s attempt to sell its physician group to another healthcare conglomerate.
“The United States commenced an antitrust review of the Debtors’ proposed sale of their physician services network, Stewardship Health, to a UnitedHealth Group Incorporated affiliate (“United”) before the Debtors’ bankruptcy filing,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton told the court, before warning that “no sale can be consummated prior to conclusion of the United States’ antitrust review.”
The court, on Friday, received an auction plan offered by Steward asking that “all objections to the relief granted herein that have not been withdrawn with prejudice, waived, or settled, and all reservations of rights included in such objections, are hereby overruled and denied on the merits with prejudice.”
“The procedures and requirements set forth in the Global Bidding Procedures, including those associated with submitting a Qualified Bid, are fair, reasonable and appropriate, and are designed to maximize recoveries for the benefit of the Debtors’ estates, creditors, and all parties in interest,” Steward’s bankruptcy lawyers wrote.
The bankruptcy court will consider Steward’s proposed sale timeline tomorrow, starting at 1 p.m. central time.
Steward Health Care Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings at the start of May, following months of reporting on their financial difficulties. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, also earlier this month, activated an “emergency operations plan” aimed at dealing with whatever fallout may come from Steward’s dire financial circumstances and the potential for disruption to patient care at any of the company’s eight operational Bay State hospitals.
Steward facilities include Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Holyoke Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. Their Norwood Hospital has been closed since 2020 due to flooding, and the company recently closed New England Sinai Hospital permanently.
A website and a hotline were launched for Steward patients seeking additional information. The website is dedicated to Steward hospitals in Massachusetts. Patients can find that information at mass.gov/StewardResources or by calling the patient hotline at 617-468-2189 (for local callers) or 833-305-2070 (toll-free).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.