BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday she is pressuring Steward Health Care to comply with a state Department of Public Health rule that requires hospital owners to give 120 days’ notice of a Massachusetts medical facility’s closure.
Healey made the ruling a day after a bankruptcy judge approved Steward’s decision to close two Massachusetts hospitals. Steward announced its plan to close on July 26. close the hospitals — Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center — on or about Aug. 31, because it had not received qualified bids for either facility.
The Dallas-based company, which announced bankruptcy on May 6 and said two days later that it planned to sell the 30 hospitals it operates nationwide — said it received qualified bids for six other hospitals it operates in Massachusetts.
“I made it clear to Steward that they have to stay open for 120 days. We have to have a smooth transition. Steward has made the decision to close those two hospitals,” Healey told reporters. “We have worked hard to get a deal done that ensures a smooth transition of ownership from Steward to a responsible operator.”
When asked if it would be possible to keep hospitals open for 120 days, Healey replied, “Yes, yes, yes.”
“And the lenders have to break the leases. We have to break the leases. It’s ridiculous that we’re in this situation because of the greed of Steward and (Steward CEO) Ralph de la Torre,” she said.
A Steward spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Healey was referring to lease payments that Steward owes after selling its hospitals’ physical properties — including land and buildings — to another company. Both Steward and the state have argued that requiring potential buyers to assume those payments rather than negotiating their own leases — or buying the hospitals’ properties outright — made it difficult to transfer ownership of the hospitals.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston on Wednesday granted a motion by Steward to vacate the master lease agreement between the Massachusetts hospitals.
In a letter to Steward on Tuesday, U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and other members of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation also pointed to state regulations that require a hospital to formally notify the state of its intention to close its services 120 days before the proposed closure date, giving state health officials time to hold public hearings.
“Steward’s financial crisis does not relieve the company of its duty to follow the law, nor does it relieve Steward and its business partners of their moral obligation to the public,” the lawmakers wrote.
Massachusetts has also agreed to generate about $30 million to support the operations of six hospitals that Steward Health Care is attempting to transfer to new owners.
The payments are advances on Medicaid funds owed by the state to Steward and are conditioned on an orderly movement to new ownership. The $30 million is also contingent on Steward meeting milestones and cannot be used for rent payments, debt service or management fees.
The company’s hospitals are spread across eight states.
A Senate committee voted last week authorize an investigation in Steward’s bankruptcy and to subpoena de la Torre. The subpoena would force de la Torre to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at a hearing on September 12.