Hospital operator Steward Health Care files for bankruptcy protection

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Hospital operator Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday morning, but pledged to maintain the eight hospitals it operates in Massachusetts.

In a press release, company officials said Steward took the step as a necessary measure to allow the company to continue to provide necessary care to its patients.

“Steward does not expect any interruptions in its day-to-day operations, which will continue in the ordinary course throughout the Chapter 11 process,” the company said in a written statement. “Steward’s hospitals, medical centers and physician’s offices are open and continuing to serve patients and the broader community and our commitment to our employees will not change.”

The Dallas-based company operates more than 30 hospitals nationwide. Steward’s eight hospitals in Massachusetts including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Carney Hospital, both in Boston. It filed for protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Steward’s troubles in Massachusetts have drawn the ire of top political figures including U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, who have said the company's previous private equity owners “sold (Steward) for parts” and “walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Steward said it is finalizing the terms of “debtor-in-possession financing” from its landlord Medical Properties Trust for initial funding of $75 million and “up to an additional $225 million upon the satisfaction of certain conditions.”

“Steward Health Care has done everything in its power to operate successfully in a highly challenging health care environment. Filing for Chapter 11 restructuring is in the best interests of our patients, physicians, employees, and communities at this time,” Dr. Ralph de la Torre, CEO of Steward said in a press release.

“In the past several months we have secured bridge financing and progressed the sale of our Stewardship Health business in order to help stabilize operations at all of our hospitals. With the delay in closing of the Stewardship Health transaction, Steward was forced to seek alternative methods of bridging its operations,” he added.

He also pointed to what he described as insufficient reimbursement by government payers as a result of decreasing reimbursement rates at a time of skyrocketing costs.

Torre said that by seeking bankruptcy protections, Steward will be better positioned to “responsibly transition ownership of its Massachusetts-based hospitals, keep all of its hospitals open to treat patients, and ensure the continued care and service of our patients and our communities.”

In March, the company announced it had struck a deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, as it works to stabilize its finances.

The move came as Gov. Maura Healey said state monitors were keeping an eye on the health care facilities operated by Steward Health Care in Massachusetts, including hospitals in some of the state’s poorer communities.

Massachusetts Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka, said Monday that her “immediate concern remains the quality and continuity of care for the thousands of patients within the Steward system.”