Steward Health touts itself as the largest private, tax-paying hospital operator in the country. With 33 community hospitals across nine states and over 100 non-hospital healthcare facilities, Steward has accumulated an impressive number of institutions. Unfortunately for the patients who rely on those community hospitals and non-hospital healthcare facilities, Steward Health officially filed for bankruptcy on May 6, 2024.

While the application for bankruptcy has not caused immediate closures, it has had ramifications for day-to-day operation and led to a pause on all lawsuits against the corporation —including those medical malpractice and wrongful death suits against the hospitals it owns. The Steward bankruptcy presents an obvious obstacle to obtaining justice for clients, a significant portion of whom believed they were seeking care from a community hospital when, in reality, they were customers of one of the largest health care businesses in America.