On the record · Other
Steward Health Care
Cerberus sold off hospital real estate in sale-leaseback deals extracting ~$800M, loaded debt, and extracted dividends while hospitals deteriorated. Patients suffered, multiple states investigated. Filed bankruptcy in 2024.
Also known as Caritas Christi Health Care, Steward Health Care System
Research depth
Outcomes researched
Reviewed operating findings or a classified operating outcome are available.
Record updated Sept. 4, 2026
Current ownership
Current owner not established
This record does not identify a current owner. That absence is a gap in the record, not a conclusion about ownership.
1 ownership record has an unresolved current/former status.
Ownership and transaction history
Chronology from recorded ownership periods, transactions and reviewed outcome events. Event order does not imply causation.
May 29, 2025
Operations ceased
Operating outcome
Date not recorded
What happened under and after ownership
Operating outcome
No longer meaningfully operating
Filed Chapter 11 in May 2024; the court conditionally approved a joint plan of liquidation in May 2025. Two Massachusetts hospitals, Carney and Nashoba Valley, closed permanently in August 2024.
Most surviving hospitals transferred to new operators, including Boston Medical Center and Brown University Health; no operating Steward Health Care business remains.
- Founded
- 2010
- Peak headcount
- 42,000
- Sponsor at closure
- Physician executives led by CEO Ralph de la Torre
- Healthcare Dive · 2025 · liquidation plan status, hospital closures and transfers one year after filing
- Wikipedia · founded 2010 when Cerberus bought Caritas Christi; peak of about 42,000 employees across the US and Malta
- Private Equity Stakeholder Project · Cerberus fully exited in 2020-2021, issuing a $350 million promissory note to physician executives led by Ralph de la Torre, who held operational control throug
What we do not know
These are gaps in the public record, not findings about the organization.
- No current public ownership assessment has been published.
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