Steward looks to sell its physicians practices, including in Pa., Ohio

Michael Roknick, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·3 min read

Mar. 27—Steward Health Care has a deal to sell its nationwide doctors' network, including practices associated with Sharon Regional Health System.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Steward is offloading its physicians' network nationwide, including in Pennsylvania. The sale is contingent upon regulatory approval in the states where Steward operates, or even from the federal government.

Massachusetts was the first domino to fall.

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, a state regulatory body known as HPC, said Steward gave it notice of a plan to sell Stewardship Health Medical Group, which employs primary care physicians and other healthcare workers across nine states, including Pennsylvania.

Also included in the sale is Steward Health Care Network, a contracting affiliate, the commission said on its website.

Both businesses are being sold to OptumCare, a Minnesota company that delivers healthcare services. OptumCare is owned by UnitedHealth Group, a healthcare delivery and insurance corporation also based in Minnesota.

If the sale happens, doctors now working under Steward Health would be working for OptumCare. OptumCare already has a local presence with its ownership owns MedExpress, which has walk-in urgent care offices in Hermitage and Neshannock Township in Lawrence County.

Steward didn't immediately respond to a Herald inquiry on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health also didn't immediately return phone and email messages to ask whether Steward filed a similar notice with the state. An email to OptumCare didn't generate an immediate response.

In February, the Wall Street Journal reported the federal government has started an antitrust investigation of UnitedHealth Group.

HPC has review oversight of the deal in Massachusetts. It can't reject the deal. But it can forward findings to other state agencies, like the state attorney general. HPC has 30 days to review the deal. Steward owns nine hospitals in the New England state.

"As described in the notice, this is a significant proposed change involving two large medical providers, both in Massachusetts and nationally, with important implications for the delivery and cost of health care across Massachusetts," HPC said in its website statement. "Details of the proposal will be reviewed by the HPC to examine potential impacts on health care costs, quality, access, and equity. The sale cannot be completed until after the HPC's review and any concurrent review by state or federal antitrust authorities.

Word of the deal drew an icy response from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat known for advocating for consumers.

"After years of gross profiteering and mismanagement, Steward's latest plan raises more serious questions about the future of the Massachusetts health care system," Warren said in a statement on her website. "My top priority is ensuring Steward's Massachusetts hospitals remain open. But Steward executives have no credibility, and I am concerned that this sale will not benefit patients or health care workers, or guarantee the survival of these facilities. It would be a terrible mistake for Steward to be allowed to walk away while looting Massachusetts hospitals one more time."

The state's other U.S. senator, Democrat Edward Markey, gave a tepid response.

"After Steward recklessly took on massive debt that is continuing to that put hospitals in Massachusetts and across the country into financial crisis, the Massachusetts health care system must move away from Steward's financial insecurity," Markey said in a statement on his website.

He added OptumCare must demonstrate an ability to deliver affordable quality healthcare.

Dallas-based Steward is a for-profit healthcare company that owns 33 hospitals, including Sharon Regional and Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Warren, Ohio. It bought both local hospital systems in 2017.

The parent company is facing ongoing financial difficulties.

Medical Properties Trust Inc. reported in January that Steward owed it $50 million in unpaid rent. MPT is a real estate investment trust based in Birmingham, Ala., that owns many of Steward's buildings.