With news of the pending deal to sell Stewardship Health to Rural Healthcare Group (RHG), which is owned by private equity investment firm Kinderhook Industries, LLC, the Massachusetts Medical Society remains focused on patients, physicians and all employees who comprise our larger health care teams.
The Medical Society calls upon Steward and RHG to uphold their ethical obligations to establish and maintain transparent, timely, and simplified sharing of information with the Commonwealth and our regulatory agencies to ensure deliberate and careful scrutiny of this transaction.
We similarly expect RHG to establish and maintain transparency and accountability with physicians and physician-led health care teams that protect clinical autonomy to ensure equitable, affordable, and timely access to care for our patients. Under no circumstances during this transition should patients, especially those from communities most adversely affected by social determinants of health and those with chronic medical conditions, be subjected to unnecessary delays and obstacles in accessing care, prescription medication, or medical records. The Commonwealth must do everything in its power to facilitate a smooth transition for patients.
We stand ready to engage with and support MMS members and all physicians who may soon become employees of or contract with RHG. We are confident that the Healey-Driscoll administration and all relevant agencies and stakeholders will continue to lead and prepare for a smooth transition, as they have since the early days of the tumult wrought by Steward’s financial mismanagement.
We will continue to advocate for patients and physicians and partner with state agencies to mitigate any potential disruption resulting from the process of completing the transaction.
We look forward to learning more about RHG’s commitment to accountability and its vision and intention to prioritize continuity of care for patients and providers and to bolster primary care in the Commonwealth.
-Hugh Taylor, MD, President, Massachusetts Medical Society
