Steward Health Care, a physician-led hospital network based in Dallas, Texas, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company stated that both its assets and liabilities were between $1 billion and $10 billion. Last month, Steward missed its deadline to pay off at least $750 million in debt. Despite the bankruptcy filing, the company assured that its day-to-day operations will continue as usual, with hospitals, medical centers, and physician’s offices remaining open to serve patients.
Steward operates over 30 hospitals across several states and is currently finalizing terms to receive debtor-in-possession financing from Medical Properties Trust. The initial funding is set at $75 million, with the possibility of up to $225 million in additional funding under certain conditions. The delay in the sale of the company’s physician group, Stewardship Health, to Optum was one of the reasons cited for the bankruptcy filing by Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre.
In addition to the sale delay, de la Torre also mentioned insufficient reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, along with the continued impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, as contributing factors to the decision to file for bankruptcy. Steward Health is committed to keeping its hospitals open and operational to continue caring for patients and supporting its employees throughout the bankruptcy process.
