As the status for many of Dallas-based Steward Health Care's 31 hospitals remains uncertain, the for-profit health system has continued to delay facility sale hearings and bid dates after it sought Chapter 11 protection on May 6.
A spokesperson for Steward told Becker's these push-backs are not uncommon and that the vast majority of Steward's facility date changes stem from ongoing negotiations with potential bidders.
To date, Steward has pushed back the sale hearing date for its hospitals in Arkansas, Louisiana and Massachusetts seven times, with the most recent change moving the hearing from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4.
In Massachusetts, Steward received bankruptcy court approval to close Boston-based Carney Hospital and Ayer-based Nashoba Valley Medical Center, by Aug. 31, resulting in 1,243 employee layoffs.
Steward's two Warren, Ohio, facilities, Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, are also set to close on or around Sept. 20 and lay off 944 employees.
"Our response to yet another postponement is we need all parties to do whatever is needed as quickly as possible to save these hospitals, as every day we delay increases the risk of this crisis compromising the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of residents, as well as caregivers, who have been living on the razor’s edge of losing access to life-saving and life-sustaining care," a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Nurses Association said in an Aug. 26 statement shared with Becker's.
The health system's Florida hospitals, Scenic Mountain Medical Center and Southeast Texas-Port Arthur, had a bid deadline of Aug. 26 and a sale hearing scheduled for Sept. 10.
Steward's Arizona hospitals, Odessa Regional Medical Center and Wadley Regional Medical Center, also now have a bid deadline of Sept. 9 with an undetermined sale hearing date.
Steward's spokesperson also told Becker's that Houston-based St. Joseph Medical Center has no specific dates listed on the system's bankruptcy website at this time.