Financially troubled Steward Health Care has finalized the sale of its physician group to Nashville, Tenn.-based primary care provider Rural Healthcare Group, part of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries.
"The next step is to integrate the two organizations while making further investments to bolster the delivery of care," Benson Sloan, CEO of Revere Medical, said in the release. "As Revere Medical, our mission of improving the lives of people in underserved areas through high-quality care remains unchanged."
Here are five things to know:
1. Dallas-based Steward filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 6 to maintain operations at its existing locations. The health system entered into a definitive agreement in August to sell the physician group, known as Stewardship Health, to Rural Healthcare Group for a reported $245 million cash deal.
2. Through the deal,Rural Healthcare Group, which operates 17 clinics across the U.S., will assume ownership of Stewardship's system — an integration of Steward Health Care Network and the Steward Medical Group, a primary care network consisting of around 5,000 employed and affiliated providers.
3. Stewardship will rebrand as Revere Medical, according to an Oct. 31 news release. Rural Healthcare Group plans to invest in Stewardship’s legacy infrastructure, including technology and personnel, to enhance care quality across its networks and clinics, the release said.
4. The transaction has attracted scrutiny from policymakers. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren expressed concerns that the deal "would empower yet another private equity firm to prey on Massachusetts patients and providers, siphoning taxpayer dollars out of the system for the profit of a few corporate executives and shareholders," according to a letter to Rural Healthcare Group CEO Benson Sloan.
5. In June, Optum, parent company of ASC chain SCA Health, withdrew its plans to acquire the 175-physician Stewardship Health.