Rep. Stephen Lynch spoke out Wednesday about Steward Healthcare’s lack of financial transparency outside of the now-closed Norwood Hospital facility. (Grace Zokovic/Boston Herald)
U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch and his colleagues toured two struggling Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward Healthcare, highlighting the impact of the system’s financial woes on patients and workers, and seeking financial support. He criticized the lack of transparency.
“They have gone to great lengths to avoid transparency,” Lynch said Wednesday morning outside the shuttered Norwood Hospital facility owned by Steward. “I think they’re afraid of what an investigation into where the money went and other transactions might reveal.”
Lynch, along with elected officials and representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), spoke at Steward, which has been closed since 2020 due to flooding and construction delays. They toured the facilities, Norwood Hospital and Good Samaritan Medical Center. Brockton.
Steward, which owns nine hospitals in Massachusetts, has been in the spotlight after reports revealed it faces $50 million in unpaid rent and numerous lawsuits for failing to pay staff and vendors. ing.
Some of its hospitals face uncertain futures, with the company announcing it will close New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton.
The tour comes as Gov. Maura Healey directs stewards to find “new operators as soon as possible” for Massachusetts hospitals and requires full financial transparency from hospitals by Friday. This will take place a few days after the release of the letter.
In response, Steward officials said they were cooperating with the province and handing over the financial audit in late 2023 or early 2024.
Mr Lynch said Steward’s claims about audited finances were “completely fictitious”.
Like other elected officials, Lynch said CEO Ralph de la Torre purchased two yachts worth more than the hospital system’s $50 million rent debt. and criticized Steward’s leadership and financial management.
“Steward has a dual mission as a for-profit company,” Lynch said. “One is to generate revenue for shareholders and private equity firms. And we should also strive to provide quality health care. I think those missions were contradictory in this case. And… When you look at the people sailing on yachts off the coast of Ecuador and the situation in hospitals, I think the profit motive has won out.”
Lynch argued that the for-profit business model itself created problems.
The representative said he would be willing to “work as a partner” with the state if health systems do not submit financial information by Friday, and there are a number of ways the agency could move to increase pressure.
“Maybe we could issue a subpoena to get that information or we could subpoena the Steward Healthcare employees to Congress,” Lynch said. “They haven’t arrived yet. We hope the state can address this issue and get the answers we need.”
Meanwhile, one MNA representative said staffing levels at Good Samaritan Hospital are “terrible” and all kinds of resources are being stretched thin.
“They just stopped paying the vendors,” said Kathy Reardon, a former Norwood Hospital nurse and MNA representative, adding that nurses lacked something as simple as paper to print prescriptions. He pointed out that there was. She said, “I think they’re choosing who they’re going to pay for and what equipment they’re going to pay for.”
Mr Reardon said nurses heard “crickets” when they contacted stewards about the issue.
As Steward Hospital’s uncertain future impacts on patients, further affected hospitals and health services are also speaking out.
“As Steward Healthcare faces financial uncertainty, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has announced that oncology care will be suspended for patients treated at St. Elizabeth Hospital and other Steward facilities. We want to reassure them directly that we are committed to making sure they don’t get hurt,” Dana said. – Laurie Glimcher, Farber President and CEO, said in a statement Wednesday. … “As we closely monitor this situation, it is important that our patients know without a doubt that we are still and always here for them.”
