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Dive Transient:
Steward is closing two Ohio hospitals with one other in Pennsylvania at excessive threat of closure because the well being system continues to limp via chapter.
The closures of Trumbull Regional Medical Middle and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, each in Warren, Ohio, come after Steward did not discover a purchaser for the services. The hospitals will begin closing on or round Sept. 20, based on the system.
In the meantime, Sharon Regional Medical Middle in Sharon, Pennsylvania — drastically quick on funds — may quickly shut and not using a purchaser, based on courtroom paperwork.
Dive Perception:
Steward’s monetary misery has reached its hospitals in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Dallas-based system declared chapter in Could after stacking up $9 billion in debt. Since then, Steward has scrambled to promote as lots of its property as doable, together with its 31 hospitals in 8 states and a significant doctor group, Stewardship Well being.
In Ohio, “regardless of each effort made to draw certified patrons, there have been no actionable gives acquired for these hospitals. Due to this fact, as a result of our important money constraints we at the moment are within the regrettable however unavoidable state of affairs the place the method of closing the services should start,” a Steward spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
State and federal lawmakers have blamed Steward’s precarious monetary state of affairs on company profiteering on the a part of the system’s management, particularly CEO Ralph de la Torre. De la Torre was even subpoenaed to testify earlier than the Senate about his position in Steward’s monetary collapse.
“The closure of Hillside is a tragic results of greed-driven hospital executives, backed by personal fairness, who prioritize their yachts and personal jets over affected person care,” mentioned Rick Lucas, the president and government director of the Ohio Nurses Affiliation, in a press release. “This resolution leaves our neighborhood with out essential rehabilitation companies and compelled our devoted crew of nurses and well being professionals into unemployment as a result of Steward’s unchecked greed.”
ONA represents medical employees at Hillside, 170 of which might be affected by the closure, based on a layoff discover filed with Ohio. At Trumbull, 765 staff will lose their jobs when the hospital shutters.
Sharon Regional, a 163-bed acute care hospital, may quickly share these services’ fates. Steward requested the state for $1.5 million in funds by Friday to assist hold the “badly uncared for” Sharon Regional open, based on a discover filed by the state lawyer common in chapter courtroom.
Pennsylvania is contemplating Steward’s request, however wants extra detailed monetary data, together with extra time to mull over the ask, Legal professional Basic Michelle Henry mentioned.
On Thursday, a decide ordered Steward to carry off on closing the ability till after the tip of this month, however directed the system to work with the state and potential patrons to attempt to discover a resolution maintaining Sharon’s doorways open, based on Reuters. Pennsylvania has positioned a possible purchaser: Meadville Medical Middle.
Steward has had issue promoting its property, together with publicly dropping patrons and pushing again the timeline for gross sales a number of occasions. Negotiations are complicated, given Steward doesn’t personal the land its hospitals function on and completely different lenders are jockeying for his or her slice of any proceeds.
Earlier this week, Steward sued its landlord, Medical Properties Belief, for allegedly interfering with plans to promote its hospitals, together with by talking immediately with potential bidders with out the system’s consent.
In a chapter listening to earlier this month, Steward mentioned it’s finalizing gross sales agreements for its hospitals in Louisiana and Arkansas, and has acquired bids for some services in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Final week, Orlando Well being bid greater than $439 million for Steward’s hospitals in Florida, based on courtroom paperwork, although Steward’s landlord, Medical Properties Belief, has objected to the sale.
In Massachusetts, the state earlier this week brokered a deal to maintain 5 of Steward’s hospitals open amid the chapter by transferring them to new homeowners. Steward already introduced the upcoming closure of two different hospitals within the state, whereas one other Steward facility, Norwood Hospital, stays closed following severe flooding in 2020.
And, earlier this month, Steward reached a deal to promote its doctor community to a personal fairness agency for $245 million.
