As part of the complaint, Steward is requesting the bankruptcy court outline the value attributed to hospital operations versus real estate.
The complaint follows a motion Steward filed Friday, requesting authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to reject lease agreements with Medical Properties Trust for hospitals in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Steward called the lease terms "expensive and burdensome" in Friday's motion, and said the terms "have crippled the debtors’ operations for years," according to court documents.
Related: Massachusetts finds new operators for six Steward hospitals
A Medical Properties Trust spokesperson said Monday the company has been "collaborative and accommodating" toward Steward and denies the struggling health system's accusations it has interfered with the sales process.
"Despite Steward’s recent attempts to rewrite history, their own statements at the outset of the bankruptcy process make clear their financial stress is a product of their own operating failures — not rent obligations," the spokesperson said.
Dallas-based Steward, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, has sought to quickly sell off its 31 hospitals and related operations. Orlando Health agreed last week to a $439.4 million acquisition agreement with Steward to acquire three Florida hospitals. Lifespan, Boston Medical Center and Lawrence General Hospital tentatively agreed Friday they would take over six Massachusetts hospitals from Steward.
Also last week, private equity-owned Rural Healthcare Group agreed to acquire Steward’s physician group for $245 million.
