Steward to cut more than 900 jobs in another layoff round

Steward Health Care will cut more than 900 jobs as it prepares to close additional hospitals next month.

The 935 layoffs at Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital — both in Warren, Ohio — will go into effect Oct. 20, but Steward plans to shutter the facilities Sept. 20, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notices filed this week.

Steward, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, is also laying off nine employees at Northside Regional Medical Center in Youngstown, Ohio, according to WARN documents. Although Steward said it plans to close the facility Sept. 20, the Dallas-based company ended most operations there in September 2018, about a year after acquiring it from Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems.

Other facilities are also facing closure as Steward continues the bankruptcy process.

Related: Steward signs definitive agreement to sell physician group

Representatives of Sharon Regional Medical Center in Sharon, Pennsylvania, told Judge Christopher Lopez at a Thursday bankruptcy court hearing that Steward was threatening to close the hospital, despite discussions with potential buyer Meadville Medical Center.

Steward declined a request for comment.

The for-profit health system had asked Pennsylvania to provide $1.5 million in interim funding for the hospital by Friday to cover the next month, citing the facility's continued losses and pressure from lenders, according to court documents.

Lopez ordered Steward to hold off on a closure notice until the end of August to give more time for financial arrangements to be made.

Last week, Boston Medical Center, Lawrence General Hospital and Providence, Rhode Island-headquartered Lifespan tentatively agreed to take over six Steward hospitals in Massachusetts. Steward secured $30 million in financing from the state in early August to keep the six facilities open. Two others — Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer — are still slated to close.

Also last week, Orlando Health agreed to acquire three Florida hospitals from Steward. Lopez approved "stalking horse" bid protections for Orlando Health at Thursday's hearing.

Private equity-owned Rural Healthcare Group signed a definitive agreement earlier this month to purchase Steward's nine-state physician group for $245 million.