The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of national hospital operator Steward Health Care is expected to weigh in Monday on a plan to sell off the company's 31 facilities, including seven in Massachusetts.
The person in charge of the bankruptcy process, Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, will play a critical role in determining the timeline for the sale of the facilities and how to distribute any assets to Steward's creditors. They include many vendors and staffing agencies that did business with Steward's hospitals across the country.
Several legal experts said Lopez's past employment does not immediately pose a conflict of interest in the Steward bankruptcy proceedings. Nancy Rapoport, law professor at the Boyd Law School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Lopez has been on the bench for five years, so judicial rules indicate he does not have to recuse himself from the Steward case.
"I think he has a good reputation for fairness, treating the lawyers fairly, being concerned about what's before him and producing a good result. All of those good things you want a judge to be," Westbrook said. The court appointed an ombudsperson, Suzanne Koenig, to monitor patient care at Steward hospitals during the bankruptcy process. Koenig, who runs a health care consulting business, will monitor facilities in several states, including those in Massachusetts.
"Houston has become the center of a number of very large bankruptcy cases in recent years," Westbrook said.
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Source: WBUR - 🏆 274. / 63 Read more »