U.S. hospital network Steward files for bankruptcy, aims for new loan

Steward Health, which operates 30 hospitals in nine U.S. states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, aiming to secure a new loan from its landlord Medical Properties Trust.

Steward Health, which operates 30 hospitals in nine U.S. states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, aiming to secure a new loan from its landlord Medical Properties Trust. The privately-owned hospital chain said it would continue serving patients as normal during its bankruptcy.

Steward has sought short-term financing and to sell its physician group Stewardship Health, but the disposal has not come together as quickly as planned, forcing it to seek up to $300 million in financing from Medical Properties Trust. "Steward was forced to seek alternative methods of bridging its operations," Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre said on Monday.

"With the additional financing in this process, we are confident that we will keep hospitals open, supplied, and operating so that our care of our patients and our employees is maintained," de la Torre added in a statement. Steward recently closed a hospital in Massachusetts, where state officials and politicians have said it did not disclose the extend of its financial troubles until they were deep enough to imperil medical care.

Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said on Monday that the state has been preparing for a possible bankruptcy and would work to "support an orderly transfer of ownership that protects access to care, preserves jobs and stabilizes our health care system".

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