Boston-based Steward Health Care System is under scrutiny for withholding audited financial statements for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 from the state, according to The Boston Globe.
The Massachusetts agency that oversees hospitals' financial health, the Center for Health Information and Analysis, fined the nine-hospital system $37,000 for not filing the information on time. However, Steward has refused to pay the penalty and is questioning its legality, according to the report. Jeff Hall, a spokesman for Steward, told The Boston Globe the for-profit system has taken issue with the format in which CHIA has requested the reports be filed because it puts some of its propriety information at risk. He also said Steward is working "in good faith" with CHIA to resolve the issue.
However, the system has a history of avoiding CHIA's filings. It missed the deadline for filing fiscal year 2013 statements by almost a year, and only filed after omitting certain parts it said contained proprietary information, according to the report.
Steward has shared some financial information with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office, according to the report. This information shows the company's operating losses totaled $75 million in 2014, growing from a $55 million loss in 2013, according to the report.
Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare and Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. missed the CHIA deadline for their Massachusetts hospitals as well, but their statements were filed as of Friday, according to the report.
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