A gaggle of Democratic members of Congress, led by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, is looking for reassurances that staff at hospitals owned by Steward Well being Care could have their well being care and retirement advantages protected.
Steward final month stated it plans to dump all its hospitals after asserting that it filed for chapter safety.
In a letter to appearing Labor Secretary Julie Su on Monday, Markey stated Steward’s chapter “poses concerns for the nearly 30,000 workers including nearly 10,000 in Massachusetts, who rely on Steward Health Care for their paychecks, health care plans, and retirement benefits.”
“We write to ask that the U.S. Department of Labor ensure that Steward workers and retirees receive the health care and retirement benefits to which they are entitled. Workers and retirees must be protected from further harm resulting from Steward’s gross financial mismanagement,” Markey wrote.
Representatives of Steward didn’t instantly reply to an electronic mail looking for touch upon what steps, if any, the corporate has taken to make sure staff obtain their advantages.
The Dallas-based firm, which operates greater than 30 hospitals nationwide, has stated it doesn’t count on any interruptions in its hospitals’ day-to-day operations all through the Chapter 11 course of.
Markey stated many staff who depend on Steward Well being Care for his or her livelihood are already going through monetary uncertainty and anxiousness. In Massachusetts, he stated, paychecks to Steward staff have been delayed following the chapter submitting because of processing delays.
Markey and the opposite lawmakers are asking the Division of Labor to take steps to guard staff, together with figuring out Steward’s plan for persevering with advantages throughout chapter in addition to within the occasion of a facility’s closure or buyout and ensuring well being claims are paid all through the chapter course of.
“Although the responsibility for this crisis rests exclusively on Steward and its corporate collaborators, a resolution to this crisis that protects workers, patients, and communities demands involvement and collaboration among federal, state, and local authorities,” Markey stated within the letter.
Along with Massachusetts, Steward employs staff in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The letter was additionally signed by Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and unbiased Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch, James McGovern and Seth Moulton, all of Massachusetts additionally signed the letter.
