Caritas owner to buy 2 more Mass. hospitals

The new owner of the Caritas Christi hospital chain didn’t take long to expand its reach in Massachusetts.

Under a tentative sales deal to be unveiled today, Steward Health Care System LLC, the company formed by a New York private equity firm to run the six Caritas Christi Health Care hospitals it acquired last month, has agreed to buy two more community hospitals in the state.

The 124-bed Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill and 57-bed Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer — both owned by Essent Healthcare of Nashville — will be sold to Steward for a price the parties, both private businesses, aren’t disclosing.