A timeline of Steward Health Care, from founding to financial peril

Steward Health Care, the for-profit company that owns nine Massachusetts hospitals, is in severe financial distress.

Public officials and health care leaders are scrambling to develop plans to stabilize the state's health care system in case Steward facilities close.

Steward's nine hospitals are spread across 10 eastern Massachusetts, in Ayer, Brighton, Brockton, Dorchester, Fall River, Haverhill and Methuen, Norwood, Taunton, and Stoughton.

This timeline shows the company's journey from its founding in Massachusetts to its current struggles: