Haverhill

Markey Calls on Steward CEO to Testify at U.S. Senate Subcommittee Field Hearing in Boston

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Massachusetts Sen. Edward J. Markey is asking the head of Steward Health Care to testify before a U.S. Senate subcommittee field hearing taking place in Boston. Markey, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, invited Steward Chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre to attend and testify Wednesday, April 3, at a hearing that examines the impact of for-profit companies on health care access. Steward Health Care, which operates Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen, has reported an inability to pay some bills as a result of, what Markey said, previously accumulated debt. Steward was previously owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company that generated $800 million in profit from Steward. The request for testimony follows last Friday’s statement from Southcoast Health CEO David McCready that his organization has a “strong interest” in buy St.

Business Bulletin

Anna Jaques Hospital Grant to Link House Backs Regional Mental Health, Substance Abuse Programs

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Anna Jaques Hospital recently awarded a three-year grant through its community-based Health Initiative to Link House to support mental health and substance use initiatives. The approximately $82,000 grant enables Amesbury-based Link House to implement Wellness Delivered, a comprehensive behavioral health education program. The program seeks to expand the reach of Link House’s outpatient services to low-resourced populations in Haverhill, Salisbury, Amesbury, Newburyport and Merrimac. “Anna Jaques Hospital is committed to supporting programs that positively and meaningfully improve the lives of our community members,” said Dr. Glenn Focht, president of Anna Jaques Hospital. “We are thrilled to support Link House in its efforts to assist vulnerable populations by educating individuals and addressing mental health and substance use needs throughout the region.”

“We are grateful for the chance to partner with Anna Jaques Hospital on this initiative that will allow us to get out into the community to meet with people where they live,” said Link House Executive Director Chris Turner.

Haverhill

With Hospital Crisis Unresolved, Leaders Call for Health Equity, Support for Lawrence General

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With the crisis still unresolved at Steward Health Care, owner of Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, a top community health leader urged the legislature not to let “distractions” stymie the push for major health care reforms.

Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers President Michael Curry called on lawmakers to display the “same sense of urgency that we had during COVID,” arguing that residents in communities of color continue to suffer as a result of health care disparities. “We for some reason had urgency in the pandemic that we’ve lost since the pandemic when, in fact, those same communities are dying, but it’s not COVID,” Curry told attendees at a legislative briefing yesterday. “It’s diabetes, it’s heart disease. It’s a whole list of things.”

“Saving lives is just as important today as it was three years ago,” he added. “I know we have a budget downturn, a fiscal crisis, we’ve got all kinds of distractions with potential losses of hospitals, but we do great things in difficult circumstances.

Haverhill

Holy Family Hospital Owner Pledges to Sell Physician Group and Private Jets as Part of Turnaround Plan

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The owner of Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen said Friday it is seeking to sell its physician group and private jets as part of, what it calls, a “six-point action plan” to save the company. As WHAV previously reported, Friday was a state deadline for Steward Health Care to meet certain demands, including producing financial records. The company said its lenders agreed to continue to withhold taking collections action against the chain through April 30 “to give the company time to execute this plan.”

“First and foremost, we want to continue to do the right thing for patients, our staff and our communities. That is our commitment going forward. In the future, that will take a different form, but the mission remains the same,” said Dr. Michael Callum, Steward’s executive vice president for physician services and interim president of the northeast region.

Haverhill

Holy Family Hospital’s Landlord ‘Encouraged by the Amount of Interest’ in Steward’s Properties

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Holy Family Hospital’s landlord said Wednesday that Steward Health Care hospitals have drawn significant interest from other potential operators, the latest hint that facilities might soon be transferred away from the financially floundering for-profit system. A day after Gov. Maura Healey issued a biting call for Steward to hand off its licensed, operational Bay State hospitals to new parties “as soon as possible,” the firm that owns the hospital real estate suggested there could be a willing market. “With regard to Steward, we are encouraged by the amount of interest received to date from other hospital operators for these mission-critical facilities, and we expect this real estate portfolio will either resume its contributions to earnings or become additional sources of liquidity as the year progresses,” said Medical Properties Trust CEO Edward Aldag Jr.

At the same time, MPT—which in January said Steward owed it about $50 million in unpaid rent—appeared to open the door to steering more money to its tenant. MPT officials said in a news release about fourth-quarter finances that the firm is negotiating with other “asset-backed lenders” of Steward on $37.5 million in bridge funding, based on the hospital system hitting milestones established in January. The real estate firm said it had already funded $20 million of that request.

Haverhill

State Places Monitors at Holy Family; Trahan Pushes ‘Essential Health System’ Plan

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Expressing uncertainty about the future of safety-net hospitals owned by Steward Health Care, Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said Wednesday state overseers will expand their monitoring of all nine facilities by next week in their bid to protect patient safety and quality. Goldstein said Department of Public Health surveyors have already been paying daily visits for “several weeks” to Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton. Steward’s hospitals serve primarily low-income vulnerable residents who have public health insurance coverage. Surveyors added Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Morton Hospital in Taunton to their list of monitoring visits this week as Steward grapples with major financial problems that have prompted fears about potential facility closures.

Haverhill

Markey, Warren and Trahan Tell Haverhill Councilors They Seek ‘Permanent’ Hospital Solution

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Haverhill’s federal legislative delegation says it shares elected leaders “deep concern about the grave consequences” of a local hospital failure and stands with them to find “permanent solutions.”

The statement by Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Lori Trahan was dated Friday and given in response to Haverhill city councilors who expressed concern at the end of January. Several days later, Steward Health Care System, owner of Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, said it had received bridge financing that will “help stabilize our company.” The statement acknowledged a final plan has not yet been detailed. “Although Steward’s recent announcement of funding will allow hospitals in Massachusetts to remain open and operational, we will stay engaged in conversations around permanent solutions that preserve jobs and enable every patient in the Merrimack Valley to receive accessible, affordable, and high-quality care in their communities,” the legislators wrote. Markey, Warren and Trahan were responding to a letter, signed by City Council President Thomas J. Sullivan, that asked for a briefing.

Beacon Hill News

Top House Leaders: No Steward Hospital Bailout, Taxpayers Already Gave $54 Million in COVID-19 Aid

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Angered over the serious financial challenges at Steward Health Care that could jeopardize the future of safety net hospitals in eastern Massachusetts, top House Democrats insisted Thursday they will not bail out the company, while acknowledging the hospitals received $54 million in taxpayer money already. Steward, which owns Holy Family Hospital campuses in Haverhill and Methuen, said last week it doesn’t plan to shutter any facilities after securing a new funding stream. Criticizing past financing deals struck by Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Aaron Michlewitz sounded dubious as they discussed the bridge funding deal touted by a Steward executive to stave off the feared hospital closures for now. Steward operates nine hospitals in Massachusetts, serving tens of thousands of patients including many low-income residents who have public health insurance coverage. “We are not in a financial position to commit to financing anything to bail these people out,” said Mariano, a Democrat from Quincy, where Steward closed Quincy Medical Center in 2014 due to multi-million-dollar losses.