Steward Health Care finalized deals to sell four hospitals in Massachusetts to new owners, a move that keeps those facilities from closing after months of concerns that communities could lose access to vital points of care.
The Dallas-based company said Thursday it had entered into “definitive agreements” to sell St. Anne’s Hospital and Morton Hospital to Providence-based Lifespan Health System and both campuses of Holy Family Hospital to Lawrence General Hospital.
The company, which has been working through bankruptcy over the past year, said it is also “finalizing an agreement” to sell both Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton to Boston Medical Center.
Steward Health Care Chief Restructuring Officer John Castellano said the company is “thrilled” to have identified buyers for the four facilities as Steward continues to move through bankruptcy proceedings.
“In Lifespan, Lawrence General Hospital and Boston Medical Center, we have found partners with established track records of treating communities in the northeast United States. Through these transactions, the people of the Commonwealth will continue to receive critically needed care while Steward continues to focus on its ongoing Chapter 11 process,” Castellano said in a statement.
Gov. Maura Healey broadcast the possibility of transferring some hospitals to new operators earlier this month when she announced tentative deals on the four facilities.
Health care workers are “incredibly relieved” after months of uncertainty that four Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts are in new hands, said Tim Foley, executive vice president of 1199SEIU, a union representing health care workers.
“Now, with Steward’s greed and mismanagement in the rear-view mirror at these sites, we can turn our full attention to the essential work of rebuilding our hospitals and caring for our patients,” Foley said in a statement. “We urge Steward to quickly finalize the sale of St. Elizabeth’s and Good Samaritan, so that healthcare workers —and the patients who rely on our care — can stop living in fear, and focus on the future.”
Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer are still scheduled to close by Saturday.
Healey’s administration is attempting to seize St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center through eminent domain, which has drawn resistance from the asset management firm that controls the facility.
“We continue to work as quickly as possible to complete the agreement for another qualified operator to take over Good Samaritan, move forward on our plans to take control of St. Elizabeth’s through eminent domain, and support the communities impacted by the upcoming closures of Nashoba Valley and Carney Hospitals,” Healey said in a statement.