Steward Health Care selling doctors network to group owned by private equity firm
BOSTON - Bankrupt Steward Health Care is selling its doctors group, Stewardship Health, to Rural Healthcare Group, which is owned by a private equity firm.
In the announcement, Steward did not reveal the amount of the sale, which it called a "definitive agreement." According to the Boston Globe, the price was $245 million.
The sale is subject to bankruptcy court and regulatory approval before becoming official.
"Stewardship Health will continue to serve its loyal patient following in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under new ownership," the company said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Steward said it was selling the physician network to Optum Care, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. That deal was never finalized, the Globe reported.
Why is Steward Health Care going out of business?
Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy back in May and then put all of its U.S. hospitals up for sale.
Steward owns nine hospitals in Massachusetts. Two of them, Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, will close at the end of this month, despite pushback from the community and lawmakers.
Steward was scheduled to have a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday in Houston, Texas on the sale of six of its Massachusetts hospitals, but that was moved to Friday. St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, Holy Family Hospitals in Methuen and Haverhill, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Morton Hospital in Taunton, and St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River are all up for sale.
"We have a path," Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey told reporters Tuesday. "The lenders have got to finalize that deal and that's what we're pressing for."
Steward's ninth hospital in Massachusetts, Norwood Hospital, has been closed since it was flooded during heavy rain back in June 2020. It is not part of the sales.
Steward Health Care owns 31 medical centers across the country. It's been the focus of a CBS News investigation into how private equity and other investor groups have siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from community hospitals.
Last month, federal authorities in Boston opened a criminal investigation into Steward for alleged fraud and corruption.