Letter included with Massachusetts Nurses Association pleading before the Bankruptcy Court

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (July 31, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health, and Retirement Security, led his colleagues, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Lori Trahan (MA-03), yesterday in sending a letter to Steward Health Care, Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (MPT), and Macquarie Investment Partners (MIP), regarding Steward Health Care’s announced closure of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center and the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

The letter was included with Massachusetts Nurses Association’s pleading before the Texas Southern District Bankruptcy Court objecting to Steward’s emergency motion to close Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center.

In the letter, Senator Markey and his colleagues outline steps that Steward, MPT, and MIP should take to protect workers and guarantee continuity of care for people in Massachusetts. The lawmakers urge: 

  1. Steward to follow directives from state officials regarding the state’s hospital closure process in order to ensure adequate notice and community participation;
  2. MPT and MIP to provide relief to the hospitals from the current, onerous lease obligations that are interfering with the sale of Steward-owned hospitals; and
  3. Steward, MPT, MIP, and all private equity firms that played a role in Steward’s financial downfall – and may also be first in line to be repaid as part of the bankruptcy process – to direct money extracted from the sale of Steward-owned hospitals towards supporting workers and protecting community access to care.

The lawmakers wrote: “It was Cerberus Capital Management, MPT, MIP, and Steward that engaged in deal-making that drove these hospitals into financial disaster, not the Commonwealth, communities that Carney Hospital or Nashoba Valley serve, or the workers they employ. And while workers and communities will have to grapple with the impact of hospital closures, the companies that helped facilitate this crisis also have the power and responsibility to help them.”

The lawmakers continued: “Steward’s financial crisis does not exempt the company from following the law, nor does it relieve Steward and its corporate enablers from their moral obligation to the public.”

On Monday, Senator Markey spoke at a press conference after Steward announced the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester. Just last week, Senator Markey voted to subpoena Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to appear before the HELP Committee on September 12 and answer for the business practices of Steward Health and the role private equity and real estate investment trusts played in its current financial crisis. This was the first time the Senate HELP Committee had issued a subpoena since 1981.

Senator Markey has consistently advocated for transparency and accountability for private equity in health care amidst the Steward hospital crisis. On July 25th, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation that would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and health care quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of health care property.

At a Boston field hearing he chaired in April, Senator Markey released his new legislative agenda calling for transparency and accountability for private equity in health care; protecting patients, providers, and workers; and guaranteeing health care for all. As part of his legislative agenda, Senator Markey released a discussion draft of his Health Over Wealth Act. Despite numerous invitations from Senator Markey, including a joint invitation from Senators Markey and Warren, to testify at the hearing, Dr. de la Torre refused. 

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