Confused by all the Steward news? Here's where the saga now stands

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Struggling to keep up with the ongoing Steward Health Care saga?

The bankrupt, for-profit company is set to close two Massachusetts hospitals by the end of this week, and has been working to offload five others to new operators. However, the deals remain unfinished — complicated by Steward’s real estate being controlled by a separate firm (as well as the state’s plan to seize one hospital to force its move to new owners). The bankruptcy case could take several months to resolve, and Steward yet again postponed a sales hearing this week that includes most of its Massachusetts hospitals. The timeline for done deals is now stretching into September.

If you’ve found all the recent updates, delays and rumors confusing, I wouldn’t blame you.

However, our own Deb Becker recently spoke with fellow WBUR reporter Martha Bebinger to explain where things now stand.

Steward’s lawyers (and Gov. Maura Healey) have said for weeks now that the final deals are close. What’s going on?

MB: These are complex agreements because the land and buildings are owned by private investors — who stand to lose tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars — and the hospital operations are owned by Steward.

One filing last week claimed that one landlord group was trying to negotiate some side deals. It seems clear there’s a lot of drama going on behind the scenes. None of the parties are saying publicly they are backing away, and doing so now would be tougher after Healey announced that Lawrence General plans to buy the Holy Family hospital campuses in Haverhill and Methuen, that Lifespan from Rhode Island is poised to take over Saint Anne’s in Fall River and Morton Hospital in Taunton, and that Boston Medical Center is expected to acquire Good Samaritan in Brockton.

Boston Medical Center also is expected to take over St. Elizabeth’s in Brighton, but Healey said BMC couldn’t reach a deal with the landlords that own the hospital so the state plans to seize that property. Did that happen last week?

MB: The Healey administration took the first step, sending an offer of $4.5 million to the investment firms that own St. Elizabeth’s. The firms responded with the legal version of, “You must be kidding. This property is worth $200 million; $4.5 million wouldn’t even cover the taxes.” Healey’s office says they’re going ahead with legal documents for a seizure. But one of the companies that controls the property said it’ll fight the state in court.

The state advanced Steward $30 million to keep hospitals open through August. What happens at the end of the week when that money runs out?

MB: The Healey administration says it’s negotiating another round of advance payments so that staff can be paid. The state is essentially paying for the care these hospitals are delivering in real time rather than months later. The state hasn’t said how much more money it might front Steward hospitals or for how long. These payments were supposed to help with the transition to new owners and we haven’t even entered a transition period yet.

Deb reported on Friday the state may need to spend as much as $700 million over the next three years to stabilize the five facilities they hope to keep open. (WBUR’s Weekend Edition team talked to a local health care business consultant about why that cost is so high.)

Meanwhile, Steward continues to affirm its plan to close Carney Hospital in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. That’s despite a warning yesterday by a court-appointed patient care advocate that closing Nashoba Valley would be particularly devastating to the north-central Massachusetts region. According to the watchdog’s report, there are no other emergency rooms within a 30-minute radius of Nashoba Valley.

Steward says they will stage ambulances outside both of the closing hospitals for three days after they close. But that plan has been criticized harshly by some staff. Nashoba Valley nurse Audra Sprague told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow that losing the local ER could be the difference between life and death in emergencies, like strokes or heart attacks: “When it comes to that kind of stuff, minutes count.”

P.S.— Our colleague Priyanka Dayal McCluskey had more on the outcry from the communities served by Carney and Nashoba Valley in this week’s edition of our CommonHealth newsletter. If you’re not already subscribed, you can sign up for that newsletter here.