Small Business Funding

Negotiations appear to be going down to the wire for deals to sell and save Steward Health Care’s surviving Massachusetts hospitals.Transactions facing a deadline of Oct. 1 included Lifespan’s purchase of Morton Hospital and Saint Annes Hospital; Lawrence General Hospital’s purchase of Holy Family Hospital-Methuen and Holy Family Hospital-Haverhill; and Boston Medical Center’s purchase of Good Samaritan. The purchase agreements were originally announced in late August, but parties continued to negotiate on Sunday what lenders should be paid and where the money should come from. Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6.During an unusual Sunday hearing, a representative of Steward warned that it was “critical” to allow the sales to close because, after Monday, the buyers could potentially walk away from their offers. Also, state funding to keep the hospitals afloat will run out at the end of the month.Gov. Maura Healey on Friday formally seized St. Elizabeths Medical Center in Boston for $21.9 million through eminent domain to keep the hospital open. BMC will become that hospital’s new operator. Massachusetts officials confirmed plans to spend at least $417 million to support the hospitals over three years after they are transferred to new ownership and said the state spent another $72 million to keep the facilities open through August and September. During Sunday’s hearing, a representative of BMC told the judge that his organization is paying just $1 for the operating assets of each of the two hospitals. He said the hospitals actually have negative financial value and that their agreement to run the facilities is predicated on their agreement with the state to continue providing funding.Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center closed at the end of August after Steward did not find qualified bidders.The future of Norwood Hospital, which was under construction, remains unclear.Steward CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who was previously the CEO of Boston-based Caritas Christi Health Care and a cardiac surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is leaving the company effective Oct. 1.