In a late Wednesday filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Steward Health Care laid out a timeline and “global bidding and auction procedures” to govern the sale of its hospitals and other assets, including the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. The document confirms for the first time Steward’s intent to sell the hospital, but does not rule out a decision to close it.
Nashoba is listed in the filing as one of the company’s “northern Massachusetts” hospitals, a list that includes Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Holy Family hospitals in Haverhill and Methuen, and Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton.
If Judge Christopher Lopez approves Steward’s motion at a hearing scheduled for June 3, interested parties would be invited to bid on Nashoba and other northern Massachusetts hospitals, with bids due June 24. If the company receives multiple qualified bids, an auction would be held on June 27 followed by a sale hearing on July 2.
According to Wednesday’s 142-page filing, Steward hired the health care investment bank Leerink Partners of Boston in February to market the company’s northern Massachusetts hospitals as well as its hospitals in Florida. The document claims that Leerink contacted 80 potential buyers, including for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that were considered likely buyers, and provided them with marketing materials. The filing also claims that Steward is “in discussion” with various third-parties “interested in purchasing and operating the [Steward] hospitals in northern Massachusetts, “as well as with state officials and regulators to facilitate the transition of such hospitals to new operators.”
Other than the appearance among the names of Steward’s five so-called northern Massachusetts hospitals, there is no specific information regarding the fate of Nashoba Valley Medical Center. The hospital remains open with a state Department of Health monitor on site.
Editor's note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more becomes known.
