Lynch on Steward Health Care: 'From an investigatory standpoint, bankruptcy is a good thing'

Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch said the bankruptcy filing by Steward Health Care could be a reset button that helps investigators better understand the troubled company's finances.

"From an investigatory standpoint, bankruptcy is a good thing," Lynch told WBUR's Radio Boston host Tiziana Dearing. "We'll get a lot of documents and we continue to get reports from them [Steward] on a regular basis."

Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 earlier this month. The company owes at least $1 billion dollars to creditors including the federal government.

Lynch, a former iron worker, said he's done bankruptcy work on behalf of the Teamsters and other unions while in private practice. When asked whether Congress may subpoena Steward for information on their finances, he said the bankruptcy filing may actually do all the heavy lifting for them.

"You have to file your actual financial documents in open court and say, 'OK, we're surrendering and we want relief from the court,' " said Lynch. "but a condition of that relief in bankruptcy is ... that [Steward] give all the documents that [Congress] would have otherwise requested."

Attorneys for Steward urged a judge last week to approve their proposed process for selling their hospitals across the country, including here in Massachusetts. Lynch said he doesn't want Steward to sell its properties to the highest bidder.

"I'd like to sort of put Humpty Dumpty back together here," said Lynch. "Give the land back to the hospitals, force a transaction at the lowest possible price, and then go from there. Don't allow this to happen again. This was a bad, bad example of the private sector trying to bring a new model into health care. This did not go well."

Lynch also talked about former President Trump's criminal hush money trial and breaking news in the Middle East.