Embattled Steward Health Care has canceled auctions for its hospitals in Ohio and Pennsylvania after it did not receive qualified bids for those facilities, according to a court filing.
The health system said in a document filed Sunday with a bankruptcy court in Texas that it is working to determine alternatives for those facilities, and expects to make an announcement at a later date. It had initially set a bid deadline for June 24 for these assets, which was later pushed back to July 15.
The system did reveal that it found potential buyers for one facility in Arkansas and another in Louisiana. Pafford Health Systems bid on the Arkansas-based Wadley Regional Medical Center for $200,000, while AHS South LLC is seeking to buy Louisiana hospital Glenwood Regional Medical Center for $500,000.
The buyers would have to take on the facilities’ liabilities, but would not be held to a rental agreement with Medical Properties Trust, Steward Health Care’s landlord.
The bid deadlines have been pushed back as high-profile potential sales have fallen through. Optum, for instance, had signed on to buy Steward’s physician group before walking away from the deal amid mounting criticism from lawmakers and others.
A hearing over these potential sales will be held on July 31, according to the court filing.
Meanwhile, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee will hold a bipartisan vote on Thursday to determine whether to subpoena Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre to compel him to speak at a hearing on the health system’s struggles in September.
The HELP Committee previously invited de la Torre to testify but he declined, according to a statement from Chair Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-La.
Back in 2020, Steward Health Care System needed $400 million to dig it “out of a deep financial hole.” Instead of investing in the struggling health system, Steward’s owner, Cerberus Capital Management, reportedly convinced Steward’s landlord, Medical Properties Trust (MPT), to provide the cash infusion.
Cerberus also sold its majority stake in Steward to a group that included the health system’s CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, WSJ reported.
MPT had to put up millions of dollars for its tenant over a series of financial deals, and recent Congressional inquiries uncovered more details about how that went down. The first part of the cash infusion came in $205 million from MPT to invest in overseas hospitals in a joint venture with Steward. The second half was covered when MPT forgave the mortgage for a Steward hospital and paid $200 million for two Utah hospitals.
In the end, Cerberus ended up with a whopping $800 million in profit while Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, WSJ reported.
Oh, and de la Torre bought a $40 million yacht with the proceeds of a 2021 payout related to his ownership of Steward.
Since filing for bankruptcy Monday, Steward Health Care revealed it’s carrying more than $1 billion in debt and said its entire hospital portfolio is for sale.
Eleven minutes later, Steward employees had an email waiting from their CEO, Ralph de la Torre. The CEO told his staff that industrywide economic headwinds and delays in Steward’s planned asset sales had forced the physician-owned health network to initiate restructuring proceedings.
“It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that this process has no impact on the quality care our patients, their families, and our communities can continue to receive at our hospitals,” de la Torre wrote in an email viewed by Healthcare Dive. “To the vast majority of you, operations will either not be different or improve.”
“To be clear, this is a restructuring under chapter 11; it is not a closure and it is not a liquidation,” he wrote.
The email was the first time employees had heard directly from Steward leadership about the company’s financial distress — though rumorsanduncertainty about the operatorhad been festering for weeks, according to Marlishia Aho, regional communications director for the union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
Leading up to Monday’s filing, state and federal lawmakers were increasingly worried about how a bankruptcy at the largest physician-led hospital operator in the country would impact access to care.
Regulators in Massachusetts — where Steward operates eight hospitals — held closed-door strategy sessions to map out contingency in case of a bankruptcy, and workers staged rallies to protest possible hospital closures.
Steward provides care for more than 2 million patients each year across 31 hospitals and 400 facility locations, according to bankruptcy filings. The company also employs nearly 30,000 employees across its eight-state portfolio, including 4,500 primary and specialty care physicians.
Steward’s first-day bankruptcy motions shed light on the operator’s future — and outlines its strategy for paying down its massive debt by selling assets. Here are the biggest takeaways.
Steward’s sprawling debt
Steward has earned a reputation for being cagey about its finances — to the dismayof Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who accused the company of operating in a “black box” in a letter to its CEO earlier this year.
The operator has refused to file routine finances with Massachusetts regulators for years, citing a need to protect confidential business data. Even as the company shutteredhospitals this winter, regulators said Steward still dragged its feet on providing financial data, frustrating policymakers’ efforts to build out contingency plans.
“One of the good things about bankruptcy is that Steward and its CEO … will no longer be able to lie,” said Healey during a press conference Monday morning. “Transparency is really important here, and that’s why you know we’re looking forward to seeing what is in the various documents … We need clarity about debts and liabilities.”
In a slew of first-day motions, Steward now revealed it owes around $1.2 billion in total loan debts and about $6.6 billion in long-term lease payments.
Steward owes north of $600 million to 30 of its largest lenders, which include UnitedHealth-owned Change Healthcare, Philips North America LLC, Medline Industries, AYA Healthcare and Cerner.
The healthcare operator owes $289.8 million in unpaid compensation obligations, including $68 million to its own workers in unpaid employee salaries, $105.6 million in payments for physician services and $47.7 million owed to staffing agencies.
It also has approximately $979.4 million outstanding in trade obligations, of which approximately 70% are over 120 days past due.
Though Steward had a consortium of six private lenders financing its asset-based loans this year, now only one lender is listed in bankruptcy filings as funding its debtor-in-possession financing: its landlord, Medical Properties Trust.
The change in vendors is notable, according to Laura Coordes, professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
“Something went on to get these other lenders to drop out,” she said.
The landlord may be opting to fund Steward during bankruptcy proceedings in hopes of getting its own money back more expediently, according to Coordes.
Steward is MPT’s largest tenant and the healthcare network will owe MPT at least $6.9 billion in debt and lease obligations by 2041, according to the filings.
During Tuesday morning’s first day hearing a representative for Steward told Judge Chris Lopez that all of Steward’s 31 hospitals are for sale. But to receive the $225 million from MPT, Steward has to hit aggressive sales milestones. It must host an auction for all non-Florida hospitals by June 28 and all Florida properties by July 30.
Since February, MPT executives have said there is strong interest from buyers in taking over Steward leases. However, Steward has yet to sell a hospital.
Experts have told Healthcare Dive they’re skeptical other operators would take on Steward’s leases at MPT’s current rental rates.
“Given the unaffordability of the leases and given that it hasn’t worked in the past, I do think that really material rent concessions are going to be needed to get this done,” said Rob Simone, sector head of real estate investment trusts at analyst firm Hedgeye.
Steward also signed a letter of intent to sell its physician group, Stewardship Health, to UnitedHealth. Although the deal was first announced in March, regulators have not yet begun reviewing the deal, according to David Seltz, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Seltz said missing paperwork is delaying the review.
The Stewardship deal is not tied to further funding. A representative from UnitedHealth declined to comment on the pending deal and whether the bankruptcy proceeding would impact the sale.
Future of Steward
Employees have received conflicting messages about the future of Steward hospitals.
On one hand, both de la Torre and Massachusetts officials said Monday that Steward hospitals would remain open this week. However, Healey also emphasized that she wants Steward out of the state.
“Ultimately, [bankruptcy] is a step toward our goal of getting Steward out of Massachusetts,” Healey said during a press conference Monday.
Some Steward facilities may wind down during the bankruptcy proceedings, said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Her office will oversee that process closely, and Steward will be required to provide licensing and notice obligations.
A healthcare worker at Steward’s Nashoba Valley Hospital told Healthcare Dive Monday she’s particularly concerned about the fate of her facility, which she says serves 14 communities but is small compared to some other hospitals in Steward’s portfolio. She doesn’t want regulators to forget about Nashoba.
“What I’m hoping for is that our state representatives and our local representatives really push to keep the hospital open,” she said. “But my concern is we get overlooked.”
State officials said they would continue monitoring Steward facilities to ensure quality care and push for the appointment of a patient care ombudsman to represent the interests of patients and employees during bankruptcy proceedings. Officials have already launched a website to offer resources about the bankruptcy process.
Still, employees are unsure of the path forward.
The Nashoba Valley Hospital employee told Healthcare Dive they’re conflicted about whether to stay at the hospital they’ve worked at for years or try to find a new position while they can.
“I’ve used the hospital since I moved out here. I’ve been living out in this area for like 25 years … I’ve brought my mother to this hospital,” the worker said. “It’s my hospital. It’s not just where I work. It’s what I use, and it’s vitally important to the community.”
Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago has secured a nonbinding purchase agreement with Insight Chicago just months before it is slated to close its doors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Under terms of the deal, still being negotiated, Insight Chicago would operate Mercy Hospital as a full-service, acute care facility. Insight Chicago is a nonprofit affiliated with a Flint, Mich.-based biomedical technology company.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval, but if it goes through, it would keep the 170-year-old safety-net hospital open.
Securing a potential buyer is the latest in a series of events related to the Chicago hospital.
On Feb. 10, Mercy filed for bankruptcy protection, citing mounting financial losses and losses of staff that challenged its ability to provide safe patient care.
The bankruptcy filing came just a few weeks after the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board rejected a plan from Mercy’s owner, Trinity Health, to build an outpatient center in the neighborhood where it planned to close Mercy. The same board unanimously rejected Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity’s plan to close the hospital in December.
The December vote from the review board came after months of protests from physicians, healthcare advocates and community organizers, who said that closing the hospital would create a healthcare desert on Chicago’s South Side.
Mercy said that until the pending deal with Insight Chicago is signed and approved by regulators, it still plans to close the facility. If the agreement is reached before the May 31 closure, Mercy will help transition services to Insight Chicago, according to theChicago Sun-Times.
Insight Chicago told local NPR affiliateWBEZthat it has a difficult task ahead to build community trust and address the financial issues that have plagued the Chicago hospital.
“I think the big main point we want to understand between now and then is the community needs to build trust with the community, and I think to build trust we have to tell the truth and be sincere,” Atif Bawahab, chief strategy officer at Insight, told WBEZ. “And there’s a reality of the situation as to why [the hospital] is going bankrupt and why several safety net hospitals are struggling.”
In its bankruptcy filing, Mercy said its losses have averaged about $5 million per month and reached $30.2 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2021. The hospital also said it has accumulated debt of more than $303.2 million over the last seven years, and the hospital needs more than $100 million in upgrades and modernizations.
Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago filed for bankruptcy protection Feb. 10, amid its plan to close that has been contested in the community.
The Chapter 11 plan includes the discontinuation of inpatient acute care services, Mercy’s owner, Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, said in a bankruptcy filing.
Mercy said it plans to cease operations of all departments, except for basic emergency services, on May 31.
“There have been many steps that preceded the difficult decision to file for Chapter 11,” Trinity said.
In a news release announcing the bankruptcy, Mercy said it was losing staff and “experiencing mounting financial losses” that are challenging its ability to provide safe patient care.
Mercy said its losses have averaged about $5 million per month and reached $30.2 million for the first six months of fiscal year 2021. Further, the hospital has accumulated debt of more than $303.2 million over the last seven years, and the hospital needs more than $100 million in upgrades and modernizations.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing comes just weeks after the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board rejected Trinity’s plan to build an outpatient center in the neighborhood where it is closing the 170-year-old inpatient hospital. The same board unanimously rejected Trinity’s plan to close the hospital in December.
The December vote from the review board came after months of protests from physicians, healthcare advocates and community organizers, who say that closing the hospital would create a healthcare desert on Chicago’s South Side.
The state review board has a meeting to discuss the closure March 16.
Despite objections for California attorney general and a last-minute attempt from an opposing bidder to block the sale, El Segundo, Calif.-based Verity Health System won bankruptcy court approval to sell a 384-bed hospital in Lynwood, Calif., to Prime Healthcare Services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra conditionally approved the sale to Prime in July. Mr. Becerra set 21 conditions for the sale of St. Francis Medical Center to Prime Healthcare, a for-profit provider based in Ontario, Calif.
Verity challenged three of the conditions outlined by the attorney general, saying they were overly burdensome. The disputed conditions revolved around the amount of charity care and community-benefit services the hospital would need to provide.
As a result, the attorney general opposed authorizing the sale and approving Verity’s Chapter 11 liquidation plan, according to the Journal.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ernest Robles overruled the objections, which should allow the $350 million sale to finalize. The judge also said he would approve Verity’s Chapter 11 liquidation plan.
In addition, in late July, Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings made a last-minute attempt to block Prime from buying St. Francis Medical Center.
Prospect Medical, backed by a private equity firm, reportedly offered to pay $50 million more than Prime and offered to accept all of the attorney general’s conditions.
However, the bankruptcy judge said Prospect lacked standing to oppose the Prime sale, and it didn’t submit its bid until after the deadline passed, according to the report.
For-profit hospital operator Quorum Health received approval of its plan to recapitalize the business Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Quorum expects to emerge from bankruptcy in early July, according to regulatory filings.
The system filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 7 to address current liquidity needs while continuing to care for patients and keep its hospitals operating amid a pandemic, according to a statement. It entered into a restructuring agreement with a majority of its lenders and noteholders.
Quorum still needs the court to issue a final order, but said the reorganization will reduce its debt by about $500 million, as originally expected.
Dive Insight:
Tennessee-based Quorum Health, which operates 22 rural and mid-sized hospitals in 13 states, may have been more ill-positioned financially than other systems going into the pandemic.
The company went public in May 2016 with 38 hospitals — 14 of which have since shuttered. In 2017, private equity firm KKR took a 5.6% stake in the system for $11.3 million.
Beyond being Quorum’s largest debt-holder today, KKR also owns about 9% of its public shares. In December, the firm offered to buy Quorum out and take the hospital chain private at $1 a share.
But that didn’t pan out, and Quorum instead ended up filing for bankruptcy in April, soon after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The restructuring agreement now “allows our company to begin a new chapter with the flexibility and resources to continue supporting our community hospitals as they serve on the frontlines of this pandemic and beyond,” Marty Smith, Quorum’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement Monday.
“We are grateful for the confidence of our financial stakeholders and partners, as well as our dedicated employees and physicians, and look forward to building on the significant progress we have made in strengthening our operations in recent years,” he said.
From reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to file for bankruptcy. At least 29 hospitals across the U.S. have filed for bankruptcy this year, and the financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may force more hospitals to enter bankruptcy in coming months.
COVID-19 has created a cash crunch for many hospitals across the nation. They’re estimated to lose $200 billion between March 1 and June 30, according to a report from the American Hospital Association. More than $161 billion of the expected revenue losses will come from canceled services, including nonelective surgeries and outpatient treatment. Moody’s Investors Service said the sharp declines in revenue and cash flow caused by the suspension of elective procedures could cause more hospitals to default on their credit agreements this year than in 2019.
The hospitals that have filed for bankruptcy this year, which are part of the health systems listed below, have not cited the pandemic as a factor that pushed them into bankruptcy. Though most of the hospitals are operating as normal throughout the bankruptcy process, at least two of the hospitals that entered bankruptcy this year have shut down.
Quorum Health Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health and its 23 hospitals filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 7. The company, a spinoff of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, said the bankruptcy filing is part of a plan to recapitalize the business and reduce its debt load.
Randolph Health Randolph Health, a single-hospital system based in Asheboro, N.C., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy March 6. Randolph Health leaders have taken several steps in recent years to improve the health system’s financial picture, and they’ve made progress toward that goal. Entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy will allow Randolph Health to restructure its debt, which officials said is necessary to ensure the health system continues to provide care for many more years.
Faith Community Health System Faith Community Health System, a single-hospital system based in Jacksboro, Texas, filed for bankruptcy protection on Feb. 29. The health system, part of the Jack County (Texas) Hospital District, entered Chapter 9 bankruptcy — a bankruptcy proceeding that offers distressed municipalities protection from creditors while a repayment plan is negotiated.
Pinnacle Healthcare System Overland Park, Kan.-based Pinnacle Healthcare System and its hospitals in Missouri and Kansas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 12. Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Boonville, Mo., formerly known as Cooper County Memorial Hospital, entered bankruptcy about a month after it abruptly shut down. Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Overland Park, formerly called Blue Valley Hospital, closed about two months after entering bankruptcy.
Thomas Health
South Charleston, W.Va.-based Thomas Health and its two hospitals filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 10. In an affidavit filed in the bankruptcy case, Thomas Health President and CEO Daniel J. Lauffer cited several reasons the health system is facing financial challenges, including reduced reimbursement rates and patient outmigration. The health system said the bankruptcy process will help it address its long-term debt and pursue strategic opportunities.
HENRY KOTULA 