Haverhill

While Holy Family Hospital Campuses Remain Open, Leaders Seek Details of Next Steps

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Employees, union leaders and elected and appointed officials are asking for details about Steward Health Care System’s proposed financing plan and possible spinoff of Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen, among others. As early as last Wednesday, WHAV reported Haverhill City Council President Thomas J. Sullivan’s sharing of information that the local hospital would remain open. On Friday, Steward Executive Vice President Michael Callum confirmed the report, saying in an email to employees, the company secured “bridge financing” which helps buy “the time needed for Steward to consider transferring one or more of our hospitals to other operators.”

Congresswoman Lori Trahan asked Friday for a timetable and other details. “I’m glad that families in Haverhill, Methuen, the Nashoba Valley and beyond can go to sleep tonight knowing their community hospital will still be open in the morning. These are critical facilities that people depend on for all types of care, and Steward executives owe it to their 40,000-plus patients and 16,000 employees in Massachusetts to be absolutely clear about what the next steps are.

Haverhill

Steward Says New Financing Means Holy Family Hospital to Remain Open; Sale Still Possible

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The owner of Holy Family Hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen says it has agreed to terms of bridge financing that will “help stabilize our company” and is working to bring in “a significant equity partner” to “continue operations” at all of its Massachusetts hospitals. The arrangements were discussed today in a memorandum from Steward Health Care System Executive Vice President Michael Callum, confirming information by Haverhill City Council President Thomas J. Sullivan that WHAV reported first Wednesday. Callum told Steward employees a sale of hospitals remains a possibility. “The bridge financing will get the company to the closing of the (mergers and acquisition) process and will provide the necessary capital for a robust national physician group and the time needed for Steward to consider transferring one or more of our hospitals to other operators,” he wrote. Callum pledged to work with state leaders during what he described as a “difficult period.”

Haverhill

Trahan Blasts Role of ‘Private Equity’ at Holy Family Hospital as Consumer Group Warns of Mergers

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Those calling for one of Massachusetts’ big health care chains to buy such troubled Steward Health Care-owned hospitals as Holy Family may take pause hearing a consumer group’s concern that consolidation contributes to rising costs. Families USA Senior Director of Health Policy Sophia Tripoli told Congresswoman Lori Trahan and a congressional subcommittee Wednesday that “trends in health care industry consolidation across the U.S. …have eliminated competition and allowed monopolistic pricing to flourish.” Trahan discussed the effect on Steward’s patients locally. “Their care is now in jeopardy because of the corporation’s gross financial negligence that seen the company try to shutter four of the nine hospitals they own in Massachusetts,” she said. Tripoli told Trahan her group endorses bipartisan-backed bills in Congress that require greater transparency. “That would not only allow us to have a better sense of the trends that are happening in the market around mergers and acquisitions related to private equity.

Haverhill

Sullivan: Holy Family Will Remain Open For Now, Parent Company to Make Announcement Soon

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Despite the financial trouble of its parent company, Haverhill City Council President Thomas J. Sullivan told councilors last night Holy Family Hospital, Haverhill and Methuen, will not close imminently. He said the company, Steward Healthcare System, will make an announcement in the next few days. Until knowing Steward’s plan, councilors said they could not do anything to help. Councilor Melissa J. Lewandowski, who pointed to “possible catastrophic outcomes for our city’s healthcare system,” motioned the council send a letter to Haverhill’s state house delegation requesting a briefing on the situation, which passed. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said to the council that, though state and federal legislative representatives have been in communication with Steward, the governor’s office and the hospital, they have not shared any solutions with her.

Haverhill

State Regulators Took No Action as Steward Health Care Collapse Took Shape Over Many Years

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In 2018, Holy Family Hospital’s Haverhill campus was sold to a real estate investment trust for about $124 million—a price tag well above the $14.8 million the city says it is worth. The financial freefall has been well-documented over the years even as it now appears to surprise state regulators. Birmingham, Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust bought the property along with other Steward Health Care-owned hospitals and related properties as part of a sell and leaseback deal that allowed, according to an announcement at the time, the then-Boston-based Steward to “to expand nationally.”

The exaggerated price tag struck many as odd, considering the City of Haverhill opened the campus in 1984 after building it for $30 million and then sold it to Essent Healthcare for $1.8 million in 2001. Essent, in turn, sold it to Steward for $8.4 million in 2011. A year earlier, Caritas Christi Health Care, owner of Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, said it agreed to be acquired by Steward Healthcare System, then described as “a newly formed affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management,” for $895 million.

Haverhill

Perla to be Interim Holy Family Hospital President; U.S. Legislators Probe Steward Finances

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Salvatore “Sal” Perla is stepping in as interim president of Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Haverhill just as the state’s federal delegation raised concerns Tuesday about parent company Steward Health Care’s finances. Perla, currently president of Steward’s Norwood Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be joined by Justine DeFronzo, who will serve as chief administrative officer of the three hospitals. As WHAV reported last Friday, Craig A. Jesiolowski, president of Holy Family Hospital since 2016, is leaving the hospital to oversee two hospitals in Illinois. Jesiolowski’s notice followed a series of unfavorable news for the parent company. Holy Family’s landlord, Medical Properties Trust, earlier this month said Steward’s “total unpaid rent under its consolidated master lease with MPT is approximately $50 million” as of the end of December.

Haverhill

Holy Family Hospital President to Step Down; Setback Follows Poor Financial Reports

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The head of Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Haverhill is stepping down to take a position in Illinois—the latest setback for its owner, Steward Health Care. Craig A. Jesiolowski, president of Holy Family Hospital since 2016, told Steward’s board, employees and providers Friday that he will become president of two hospitals—a tertiary medical center and a community hospital in Illinois. Jesiolowski’s decision comes on the heels of Holy Family’s landlord, Medical Properties Trust, reporting this month Steward’s “total unpaid rent under its consolidated master lease with MPT is approximately $50 million” as of the end of December. Last month, as WHAV reported, Steward Health Care said it would close its New England Sinai Acute Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Hospital by early April. Last April, Steward won a temporary restraining order to keep a dialysis services vendor, Fresenius Management Services, from ending services due to nonpayment.

Business Bulletin

Lawrence General Hospital Welcomes CEO Agrawal, Three New Trustees

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Lawrence General Hospital welcomed its new CEO, Dr. Abha Agrawal, who took over last week, and three new members to its board of trustees. Outgoing Board chair Mike Mancuso, who will continue his volunteer work for the hospital, said in a statement Agrawal has a proven reputation as a transformative leader with the excitement, skills and experience needed to empower the Lawrence General team and meet the ever-changing needs of the people they serve. “Above all, Dr. Agrawal has been a champion for advancing health equity and patient care throughout her career. The board is confident she is the leader we need to ensure Lawrence General Hospital will thrive in today’s challenging healthcare environment,” Mancuso said. Agrawal is a practicing internal medicine physician, accomplished health care executive, Fulbright Scholar, clinical informaticist and author who comes to Lawrence General after serving as chief medical officer at Humboldt Park Health in Chicago.