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Steward Health Care, the private operator of hospitals that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, has reached an agreement to sell certain of its Massachusetts-based hospitals.
Steward was the largest tenant of Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW), and is said to have sued its landlord recently, alleging that the medical REIT is thwarting the sales of its hospitals.
MPT had reportedly claimed that its real estate is much more valuable than Steward’s hospital business, and that allegedly prevented Steward from selling the hospitals.
Steward is said to have asked the bankruptcy judge to determine how proceeds from future hospital sales should be distributed between the real estate and the hospital operations.
Under the current agreement, the hospital operator has agreed to sell its Morton Hospital and Saint Anne’s Hospital to Lifespan, while Lawrence General Hospital is set to purchase Holy Family Hospital – Methuen and Holy Family Hospital – Haverhill.
Additionally, Steward and Boston Medical Center are finalizing an agreement for the sale of Good Samaritan Medical Center and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center operations.
The terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
“As Steward continues to progress through the ongoing Chapter 11 proceedings, we are thrilled to have identified such qualified acquirers for hospitals in the Commonwealth that are critical to the health of underserved populations,” said John Castellano, Steward’s chief restructuring officer, in an Aug. 29 statement.
