Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M
The August sale of Stewardship Health—a physician group once part of Steward Health Care—has been finalized, with new owner Rural Healthcare Group rebranding the network as Revere Medical.
Rural Healthcare Group is owned by private equity firm Kinderhook Industries, and the purchase was finalized for $245 million in cash. As part of the deal, Rural Healthcare Group will also be rebranded as Revere Medical, forming a single consolidated entity with Stewardship.
“Combining the organizations will allow Revere Medical to accelerate the impact of our operating model across more providers, patients and communities,” Benson Sloan, CEO of Revere Medical, said in a statement. “The next step is to integrate the two organizations while making further investments to bolster the delivery of care.”
Revere Medical plans to invest in Steward’s legacy infrastructure—both people and technology—but added that it will “ensure that care remains local so that patients can still access their existing providers, specialists and hospitals.” Before the buyout, Stewardship was made up of 3,500 primary and specialty care doctors who served patients nationwide. It’s not clear exactly how much the new Revere Medical plans to change personnel and operations.
“The Stewardship team is excited for this next chapter with Revere Medical as it provides a committed partner focused on quality care and improving the clinic experience for providers, clinic-teams and patients,” Joseph Weinstein, MD, President of Stewardship said in the statement.
Steward’s sullied reputation
The sale to Kinderhook was part of ongoing bankruptcy litigation involving Steward facilities nationwide. The company filed for bankruptcy in May and has been seeking buyers for all of its hospitals and clinics.
Steward had been at the center of multiple scandals related to its business operations pre-bankruptcy, including allegations it spent millions spying on critics. The DOJ is also investigating the organization over its ties to foreign governments.
It’s also been reported the company paid a $719 million dividend to its former private equity owner, Cerberus Capital, despite Steward losing $300 million the same year.
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