Palmetto General, North Shore Medical Center and three other South Florida hospitals owned by a healthcare company in bankruptcy are changing hands.
Steward Health Care System is handing over its Miami-Dade and Broward hospitals to its landlord, which has tapped Healthcare Systems of America -Florida LLC to help it temporarily run the hospitals as “interim manager” until it finds a long-term operator. Records show the company was registered Aug. 18 in the state of Nevada.
The deal includes Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital, North Shore Medical Center in North Miami-Dade and Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes.
The decision is part of a deal Steward Health made with Medical Properties Trust, which owns the land the hospitals sit on, to get out of its lease and keep hospitals open in South Florida and other states.
The arrangement, still being finalized, was given the OK to move forward by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston bankruptcy court Wednesday, with a final hearing set for Sept. 17. The judge on Tuesday approved the sale of Steward’s three Florida Space Coast hospitals to Central Florida’s Orlando Health for $439.42 million in cash.
READ MORE: A buyer has emerged for several Florida hospitals owned by a health giant in bankruptcy
As part of the proposed deal, the landlord would take over Steward’s hospitals in Miami-Dade, Broward and others in several states. Medical Properties Trust would then partner with health companies to temporarily run the hospitals.
For the South Florida hospitals, the landlord will be working with Healthcare Systems of America in running the day-to-day operations, according to the proposed settlement. Steward’s attorney indicated in court that Steward would still be involved, at least for now, due to license and contractual obligations.
The goal is to secure a deal with permanent hospital operators by October, according to the settlement.
In return, Medical Properties Trust would stop pursuing claims against Steward for money owed, including billions related to the lease of Steward’s hospitals in Florida and other states. Steward would also stop pursuing claims against the landlord.
Steward Health had sold all of its South Florida real estate to Medical Properties Trust in 2021, and has since paid rent to operate its hospitals on the properties it used to own. All 31 of its U.S. hospitals, including five in South Florida, were put up for sale as part of a plan to shed debt after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.
But the sale became complicated when the healthcare company and Medical Properties Trust got into disputes over unpaid rent and also began accusing each other of attempting to interfere with potential deals to try to make more money. That eventually led to this settlement agreement, which came just in time for cash-crunched Steward, which was warning it didn’t have enough money to continue operating hospitals and that there could be more shutdowns if a deal wasn’t made.
“We are certain this is the path we have to pursue,” Steward’s attorney said in court.
Local News
