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By Ella Adams, Chris Lisinski & Keith Regan
Steward crisis lurches into the next phase with bankruptcy filing
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Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, jettisoning its financial crisis into a new phase.
The for-profit health care system that has become the biggest boogeyman in Massachusetts announced overnight its move to seek bankruptcy proceedings, which it said would help restructure debt.
"Steward does not expect any interruptions in its day-to-day operations, which will continue in the ordinary course throughout the Chapter 11 process," the company wrote in a press release published early Monday morning. "Steward's hospitals, medical centers and physician’s offices are open and continuing to serve patients and the broader community and our commitment to our employees will not change."
As part of the new announcement, Steward leaders said they are finalizing "debtor-in-possession" financing terms with Medical Properties Trust, the real estate investment trust that owns Steward's hospital properties in Massachusetts. That deal would provide $75 million in initial funding and another $225 million if Steward fulfills "certain conditions acceptable to Medical Properties Trust."
Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, who has drawn intense criticism in recent months from policymakers and regulators, blamed the system's financial woes on the reimbursement rates it receives from public insurers and a "delay" in closing a deal to sell Steward's physician network.
Days before Steward announced its bankruptcy filing, the Healey administration launched an incident command system to coordinate the state's response to any Steward upheaval and protect patient care.
According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh, the Healey administration is "working with Steward" and other partners to support an "orderly transfer of ownership" without losing access to care or jobs.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said the bankruptcy declaration should "embolden" the Legislature, administration and health care industry at large to "immediately take whatever steps are needed to ensure the preservation of these facilities and the safe transition to more stable and responsible not for profit ownership." - Chris Lisinski and Ella Adams
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9:00 | Supreme Judicial Court hosts oral arguments in a pair of cases challenging whether potential ballot questions meet Constitutional requirements to go before voters in November | John Adams Courthouse, Courtroom One, Pemberton Square, Boston | Docket | Livestream
11:00 | Treasurer Goldberg, Sen. O'Connor, and Rep. Hamilton join the Office of Economic Empowerment for a policy briefing on financial education | Room 428
11:00 | Senate President Spilka, Ways and Means Chairman Rodrigues and Senate Higher Education Chair Comerford announce details of the Senate's plan for universal tuition-free community college in their FY25 budget | Middlesex Community College, Front steps of the Cowan Center, 33 Kearney Sq., Lowell
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April taxes above expectations
April tax collections surpassed expectations by more than $1B, thanks in large part to capital gains tax revenue and income surtax on high earners, reports Colin A. Young for the News Service. Prior to April's tax revenues, the state's FY24 collections were behind expectations by $145M — now, they're $889M ahead of projections. Revenue collected from the new surtax on high earners can only be used to support education and transportation investments, and capital gains tax revenue above a certain amount automatically gets transferred into reserve accounts. — State House News Service
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Nantucket undersea electricity cable broken down
National Grid still hasn't diagnosed or fixed an undersea cables that provides electricity to Nantucket, which has been out of commission since last Tuesday. The single undersea cable left working and Nantucket's backup generator are sufficient to cover the island's needs considering the outage’s timing outside of peak season, and National Grid says it expects repairs to be complete by Memorial Day, when demand will increase. The cable in question is not the second cable installed in 2006 to meet demand, but the original cable installed 28 years ago. — Nantucket Current
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Encampments endure on Cambridge campuses as commencements loom
The campuses of Harvard and MIT are the last two in the Boston area to have active encampments of protesters calling to end the Israel-Hamas war after students at Tufts dismantled their protests on Friday, Gia Shin of Cambridge Day reports. At Harvard, protesting students have given the university a deadline of Monday evening to begin discussions about divestment and other topics — without saying what they would do if the school refuses.
Meanwhile, Northeastern University's commencement ceremonies on Sunday were briefly interrupted by a graduating student protester brandishing a Palestinian flag. Police arrested the student and apart from occasional chants from those on both sides of the issue, the rest of the day went as planned. — Cambridge Day | Boston Globe
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Healey comfortable with police protest response
Gov. Healey said Friday that she's comfortable with the police deployment involved in clearing Northeastern University and Emerson College pro-Palestinian encampments last week. On GBH's Boston Public Radio Friday, Healey spoke to the "right to protest" in the US, but pointed to a "difference between protest and violence, and threats of violence and disruption of students' access to safe education." — State House News Service
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Grant program could provide millions to cannabis companies via social equity funds
Millions of dollars may come to cannabis companies run by entrepreneurs most affected by strict drug prohibition in the form of a second round of state grants, reports Will Katcher for MassLive. The first round of grants from Massachusetts' Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund — which now boasts over $27M — divided $2.3M between 50 different companies, serving as emergency cash for applicants in difficult financial circumstances; the second grant program will launch in the summer, aiming to give larger grants to help program participants launch or expand their businesses. — MassLive
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DCF ending practice of withholding foster kids benefits
The Department of Children and Families is ending a "legal but controversial" practice of withholding survivor and disability benefits meant for foster children with disabilities or a lost parent and putting it into the state's treasury. The practice stopped Jan. 1, and the money held by DCF will be returned to the Social Security Administration where recipients can request it once they leave foster care. The agency is phasing out the practice of keeping disability benefits — survivor and disability benefits will now be available to foster kids either when they return to their families or age out of the system, reports the Globe's Jason Laughlin. — Boston Globe
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As added year of pilot kicks off, Berkshire Flyer’s future still in doubt
The Berkshire Flyer train, which connects New York City to Pittsfield, will soon launch for the third year of what was supposed to be a two-year pilot program — but its future beyond this year remains in doubt. Meg Britton-Mehlisch of the Eagle reports last year's ridership was down from a strong first year and that conflicts between the passenger train and freight trains on the single track route led to a dismal 17 percent on-time performance for Pittsfield-bound trains last year.
— Berkshire Eagle
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Specialty Minerals released wastewater into Hoosic River, will pay fine
AG Andrea Campbell claimed Specialty Minerals violated the Federal Clean Water Act and state environmental laws when the company released wastewater into the Hoosic River multiple times. A complaint and proposed settlement was announced Friday, in which Specialty Minerals agreed to pay $299K after an investigation into multiple wastewater releases led to a consent decree and fine. The fine would be divided by the town of Adams and various water quality-related initiatives in Northern Berkshire County, and the consent decree is pending approval by a U.S. District Court judge. — Berkshire Eagle
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Traffic stop leads to discipline for four Plymouth police officers
Andrea Estes of the Independent details how a single traffic stop in March led to disciplinary action against four Plymouth police officers. In addition to the officer who issued a later-dismissed ticket, cops in trouble include those who improperly looked up the driving record of the person who complained about their interaction with police — and later invented a fake online persona to reveal some of those non-public details. — Plymouth Independent
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Vineyard to lose cannabis dispensary, cultivation site
The first and only company approved to grow cannabis on Martha's Vineyard has shut down its cultivation operation and says it will shutter its dispensary — one of just two on the island — later this year. The owner of Fine Fettle says the economics of running the businesses on the island, including having to set up its own testing operation so cannabis doesn't travel over federal waters, just don't work, especially amid wider availability of weed on the mainland, including at locations near the ferries to the island. — Vineyard Gazette
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Last week… (a quick reminder)
The Health Care Financing Committee introduced a health care reform bill, endorsed by House Speaker Ron Mariano, full of adjustments to the system in the wake of the Steward crisis; Gov. Healey is optimistic the Legislature can push a housing bill through by the end of the session; the committee looking at potential ballot questions recommended no action to any of the measures, and supporters of each question have started gathering the necessary signatures to file by July 3; OCPF fined Cape and Islands Democrat Rep. Chris Flanagan for using a fictional alias to conceal financing and then lying to officials about it. — State House News Service
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