Massachusetts
Bankrupt Steward hopes to sell Massachusetts hospitals by end of June – The Boston Globe
At a virtual hearing in federal bankruptcy court Tuesday, Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston said he was focused on ensuring patient safety as the chain reckons with its crushing debts: ”Real people receiving real care in real time . . . are at the forefront of my mind today.”
The hearing was the start of a months-long process to get the hospitals on a sound financial footing. The court must sort through all of Steward’s financial transactions over the past few years and determine which creditors will be paid back, all while the hospitals continue serving thousands of patients.
During the hearing, Steward also disclosed that it is conducting an internal investigation into “any claims or causes of action of the company against insiders of the company,” according to a presentation from its lawyers. “This investigation is ongoing.”
The investigation is being overseen by a three-person committee that includes independent Steward board members Alan Carr and William Transier plus John Castellano, an investment banker from AlixPartners working on the company’s restructuring.
The group, called the transformation committee, also has “full and exclusive authority” to oversee financing, sales, and restructuring transactions, according to the presentation.
The aggressive timeline for sale of the hospitals was a condition of a $75 million loan Steward needs while it reorganizes its debts. The company owes more than $1 billion to “secured” lenders, who received collateral to protect their loans, and more than $7 billion on long-term leases and loans from its main landlord, Medical Properties Trust, according to the company’s presentation at the hearing. Steward also owes an additional $1 billion in unsecured debts to other service providers and contractors.
The latest loan obligates the company to conduct a rapid sale process, Ray Schrock, Steward’s lawyer, told Judge Lopez during the hearing.
Under the loan terms, Steward would have to take bids on all its hospitals except nine in Florida by June 25, with an auction to be held on June 28. Bids would be due on the nine Florida hospitals by July 26, with an auction on July 30. The company has already begun seeking potential buyers for all of its hospitals, Schrock said.
“I’m not going to say we are happy with the timeline,” Schrock said regarding the June deadline for the first group of sales. “It’s not feasible.” The later Florida deadline was “more realistic,” he said.
Steward had already received letters of interest from potential buyers offering to buy some of the hospitals, Schrock said. But he added that hospital sales typically require approval from state, local, and sometimes federal authorities.
Bankruptcy attorney Adam Ruttenberg, a partner at Beacon Law Group in Boston who is not working on the Steward case, said it was unlikely the hospitals could be sold by the end of the June because of the required regulatory approvals.
“It depends on what you mean by sell,” Ruttenberg said. “Are we talking about having a buyer identified? Seven weeks to get bidders and identify who your best bidders are, that’s not unrealistic. Or are we talking about having a sale approved and closed? That strikes me as wishful thinking.”
Boards often appoint special committees, such as the Steward transformation committee, with the power to authorize transactions and investigate insiders in bankruptcy cases, Ruttenberg said.
“It’s standard in any case where there are hints of wrongdoing,” he said.
While no allegations of wrongdoing have publicly been aired as part of the days-old bankruptcy case, the company has faced dozens of lawsuits, including allegations it has not met contractual obligations to various business partners and has failed to pay its bills.
In addition, Steward has been subjected to increasing criticism from public officials. Governor Maura Healey, for instance, has raised the possibility that Steward may have broken the law in its business dealings. “We don’t have enough to know what they’ve done, whether it’s criminal or illegal, but to me it really smells,” she told the Globe in February.
The sales timeline could be altered, particularly if Steward found a different lender. Steward is also seeking to sell its doctor network, Stewardship Health, but a deal with insurance giant UnitedHealth has been slowed by regulatory concerns. “We’re still working through that,” Schrock said.
In the end, the company may retain some of the hospitals, Schrock said. Healey wants Steward to sell all of its facilities in the state.
“We are going to look at reorganizing around a smaller footprint of hospitals,” Schrock said. The Florida hospitals are the “most profitable portion,” he said.
Andrew Troop, a lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who is representing Massachusetts, urged the judge to approve an order allowing doctors and other Steward employees to continue receiving their pay. “This is not a typical case,” Troop said. “Patients are waiting for the outcome of this hearing.”
Lopez said he planned to approve the order because he wanted doctors treating patients to “have nothing in the back of their minds.”
Steward did not assent to everything its lenders requested, Schrock said. Some lenders wanted Steward to issue notices under the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that it could conduct mass layoffs at hospitals within 60 days. But Steward pushed back, Shrock said, because “we don’t think there’s going to be any closures.”
Since Steward’s cash crunch started last year, Medical Property Trust has deferred $166 million in rent and injected $141 million of cash into the hospital operator, Thomas Patterson, a lawyer for the real estate company said.
In Massachusetts, Steward’s hospitals include St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan in Brockton, Holy Family in Methuen and Haverhill, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Nashoba Valley in Ayer, and Saint Anne’s in Fall River. It also runs Norwood Hospital, which has been closed since 2020 due to flooding.
Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman. Robert Weisman can be reached at robert.weisman@globe.com.
As libraries across western Massachusetts celebrate National Library Week from April 19 to April 25, they are honoring “the last real third space where everyone is welcome,” in the words of Greenfield Public Library Assistant Director Lisa Prolman.
According to the American Library Association, National Library Week is “an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.” This year, several libraries in the region will be hosting events to highlight the roles they play in their communities.
The Athol Public Library is among the venues engaging in National Library Week festivities, with a whole host of events starting on Tuesday, April 21, with Silly Goose Story Time at 10:30 a.m. The library will hold multiple events each day, including “Free Book Friday” on April 24, which Assistant Director Robin Shtulman said is “really fantastic.”
Shtulman said the week celebrates and emphasizes the “freedom to read, community outreach and celebrating the staff, without whom nothing would happen.”
The Athol Public Library said in an event announcement that “whatever brings you joy, the library has something for everyone,” and that aspect is being emphasized this National Library Week. To name a few of the events on tap, on Tuesday, April 21, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., there’s a volunteer opportunity where teens will make greeting cards for senior citizens; “A Minecraft Movie” will be shown at the same date and time; and on Thursday, April 23, the library will host Scavenger Hunt Bingo for all ages. For a full list of events at the Athol Public Library, visit atholpubliclibrary.com.
In Shelburne Falls, the Arms Library will feature a gallery from the Carlos Heiligmann Collection, a series of photos of public libraries across western Massachusetts. Also in collaboration with the Arms Library, Pothole Pictures and the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club will partner for a screening of “Free For All: The Public Library” on Saturday, April 25, at 2 p.m. at the Shelburne Falls Theater at Memorial Hall.
The documentary focuses on the evolution of the public library from its origins in the 19th century and the challenges it faces today, with modern-day issues such as book bans, funding cuts and debates over censorship.
It also explores the role that women’s clubs, like the one in Shelburne Falls, played in creating the modern library system. To serve their communities, women’s clubs took the lead in fundraising, collecting books and advocating for library legislation.
“Our women’s club in this town started with a group of 60 women who were gathering for lessons. … Because of the support of women in the U.S., we established over 80% of the public libraries [in the country],” said Christin Couture, program chair for the Shelburne Falls Area Women’s Club. “This film … I hear it’s so fascinating.”
Following the film’s screening, there will be a panel of local librarians who will engage in “lively conversation” about the history and future of public libraries. Tickets are $6, though school-age children will be admitted for free.
In Charlemont, Tyler Memorial Library will host an open house on Saturday, April 25, from noon to 2 p.m. featuring refreshments, a tour of the library and sun catcher crafting.
The Greenfield Public Library, meanwhile, is taking National Library Week in a bit of a different direction, as it is offering a book repair demonstration with Tom Hutcheson on Thursday, April 23, at 3:30 p.m. The day marks William Shakespeare’s birthday.
Although the book repair session required registration and is currently full, those who are interested may be placed on a waiting list at greenfieldpl.libcal.com/event/16460179.
Greenfield Public Library Director Anna Bognolo recognized the hard work that everyone has put into making the library a success, offering a “huge thank you” to the volunteers and staff who make its varied offerings possible.
“Stop by and support your library,” Bognolo said.
“Libraries, especially in this economy, are more important than ever,” Prolman said. Referencing the library’s role as a place where community members can go that is not work or home, she added, “They are the last real third space where everyone is welcome, and we don’t charge you for being here.”
Massachusetts
New Bedford MS-13 Member, Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in Brutal Murders In Massachusetts, Virginia
Frankli
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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