With multiple lawsuits and reports alleging that Steward Health Care is tens of millions of dollars behind on payments for services, including at least $50 million in rent at hospitals and health facilities across Massachusetts, state leaders are sounding an alarm for the rest of the state’s healthcare sector.
Dallas-based Steward has allegedly been making partial rent and supplies payments to avoid those services being cut off, according to former employees and a report by its landlord. State leaders in both government and healthcare have publicly worried that disruption to Steward’s care facilities would cause ripple effects throughout the system, including exacerbating large care backlogs.
Steward is amongst the largest for-profit care providers in the country, operating more than 30 hospitals and having 107 “preferred skilled nursing facilities” in its network nationwide. Its Massachusetts hospitals are at the center of the current controversy.
Massachusetts already faces worsening care delays that have kept hundreds of patients stuck in hospitals, unable to be discharged to nursing homes. These delays are a growing problem for both hospitals and post-acute care providers, according to a detailed November report from the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association.
The shortage of care begins in emergency rooms and continues throughout the care spectrum, according to Barbara Spivak, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
“I think that any hospital that closes today will add to the already existing crisis of access that we have,” Spivak told CBS News Friday. “Hospitals are having problems with bed capacity, and part of that is that they have trouble getting patients discharged appropriately. We don’t have enough SNF beds or nursing home beds.”
Chorus of concerns
A report from Steward’s landlord, Medical Properties Trust, suggests that the provider may be considering strategically selling its Massachusetts facilities. Steward has denied those plans broadly, but did in December announce plans to close one local hospital by spring 2024, citing more than $20 million in operational losses.
Steward did not respond to McKnight’s request for comment Friday.
The massive provider’s reported financial troubles have drawn attention from policymakers as high as the governor’s office and the US Senate.
Every US Senator and Representative from Massachusetts signed a joint letter to Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, arguing that closing facilities would severely limit care across the state and requesting a briefing on Steward’s plans. Steward employs more than 16,000 care workers in Massachusetts, according to the joint letter.
