Under the private ownership of Steward Health Care, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center has backed away from more than $600,000 in community giving and still owes money that it signed agreements to provide.
The hospital operator is alleged to owe its landlords and vendors more than $50 million. Simultaneously, the company is closing hospitals in Texas and Massachusetts.
Steward executives, while running the state's third-largest hospital system, repeatedly resisted allowing regulators to take a look at their financials.
Rep. Lori Trahan brought the Steward Health Care System crisis before a Congressional committee, calling for more transparency into the 'disastrous' role of private equity in the financial instability threatening hospitals.
The stepped-up demand for medical care that's left health insurers nervous is bringing good vibes to the hospital industry, whose outlook was buoyed Tuesday by HCA Healthcare's better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings.