State officials stepped up their rhetoric against Steward Health Care on Friday as the fallout from the company's financial troubles continued.
Gov. Maura Healey said her administration is monitoring the unfolding crisis and developing plans to stabilize the state's health care system.
The for-profit Steward Network — one of the state's largest hospital operators — is in dire financial straits and may be on the verge of failure, according to health care executives and state officials.
“We have not seen a plan from Steward,” Healey told reporters after speaking at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association on Friday. “People should know this: Our goal will be to ensure that patients are protected, that jobs are protected and that the health care system in Massachusetts is stabilized.”
Later, when Healey appeared on WBUR Radio Boston, he was asked whether Steward would receive a bailout from the state.
“No, Steward will not be saved,” she said.
Steward operates nine hospitals in Massachusetts in communities including Brighton, Brockton, Dorchester, Methuen, Haverhill, Taunton and Ayer. The company was founded in 2010 by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. It is led by Dr. Ralph de la Torre, a heart surgeon and later CEO who eventually moved the company's headquarters from Boston to Dallas and bought dozens of hospitals across the country.
Steward is a rarity in Massachusetts, where most hospitals are structured as nonprofits and operate in relative secrecy. The company is not providing detailed financial information to state officials — as is required of all hospital systems — and is fighting a legal battle to avoid disclosing the documents.
David Seltz, executive director of the Health Policy Commission, a government watchdog agency, told hospital leaders Friday that Steward leaders are violating the law.
“Transparency is about trust and having information so policymakers and the public can understand the performance of our health care system,” Seltz said.
“Steward management’s stubborn refusal to release these legally required reports is a grave disservice to the public, to the patients served by this system, and to the employees of this system.”
Steward officials blame insurers' low reimbursement rates for the devastating financial losses at many community hospitals, including Steward Hospitals, and said those losses could “jeopardize their ability to continue to provide services.”
The company declined to make anyone available for an interview.
Steward's problems have sparked heated debate among health care leaders, officials and union representatives, all of whom are scrambling to understand and respond to the rapidly changing situation.
Mass General Brigham leaders said Friday that they had pulled a group of their doctors from Holy Family, a Steward hospital with locations in Methuen and Haverhill. Mass General Brigham physicians perform surgeries and other procedures at Holy Family.
“After learning that certain surgical equipment may not be available, we decided to postpone upcoming orthopedic and surgical equipment [gastrointestinal] Procedures at Holy Family Hospital. “We have contacted affected patients and are working to reschedule their procedures to a nearby Mass General Brigham or community hospital as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Tom Sequist, chief medical officer at Mass General Brigham, in a statement.
It's unclear which steward facilities will ultimately remain open and which could close. A Steward hospital in Norwood has been closed since a flooding event in 2020.
Health care executives and public officials have discussed several options, including the possibility that other health systems could take over certain Steward's facilities, people familiar with the discussions say. Other options include declaring a public health emergency, which would give the state more power over Steward hospitals.
Dr. Abha Agrawal, CEO of Lawrence General Hospital, said her hospital is ready to help patients whose care may be disrupted at Steward.
“Our key shared goals should be: 'How do we ensure that no one is harmed and that patients and communities are safe?' said Agrawal. “We are ready, willing and able to be part of the solution.”
Deborah Becker contributed to this report.