Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is either unable or unwilling to hide her anger with Steward Health Care system, its management, and their response to her demands for financial information.

Steward, which operates nine medical facilities in the Bay State, including seven acute-care hospitals, is facing increased scrutiny after it was learned the company was behind in its rent by upwards of $50 million and, according to several lawsuits, has allegedly been stiffing some of its contractors out of their money.

Their financial woes are such that it’s apparently impacted staffing and patient care at their facilities, leading the state to deploy Department of Public Health monitors at all nine Steward locations.

Last week, Healey sent a letter to Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre, telling him to find new operators for the hospitals and leave the Massachusetts market “as soon as possible,” and demanding the company turn over long-sought legally-mandated financial documents by Friday.

Following one of her semi-regular leadership meeting with Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano on Monday, the governor did not pull any punches when it comes to how she feels about the hospital systems’ apparent mismanagement and its owners’ alleged failure to provide the information she sought and that the law apparently requires Steward to furnish.

“The blame, the fault, is with Steward and its management. It, frankly, disgusts me, the fact that a particular CEO came and chose to do what it appears he did, in terms of how he ran operations, and put patients, providers and our communities at risk,” Healey said, the anger in her voice and body language quite apparent.

Steward did turn over some “incomplete and insufficient” information to the Healey Administration, according to the governor’s staff, but the financial disclosures they received are unaudited.

There’s a reason for that, according to the governor.

“Steward didn’t produce audited financials, because Steward doesn’t have audited financials,” she said.

“Can I just double down on that?” Mariano chimed. “This has been an ongoing fight since 2012, to get Steward to report their financials.”

Hospitals are part of a “semi-regulated industry” in Massachusetts, the Speaker said, yet instead of providing the financial information which could have warned lawmakers of their troubles, “they fought— at every turn” to keep that information secret.

“To the point where they took to court, lost, now they’re appealing the decision. That’s where it is. So, if anyone is feeling sorry for Steward right now, they are crazy, because Steward has practiced the game of ‘hide the numbers,’” he said.

Dallas-based Steward is the largest private for-profit healthcare network in the U.S. It does not own the hospital buildings it operates in Massachusetts, but leases the buildings from Birmingham, Alabama based Medical Properties Trust.

A January announcement by MPT that Steward was behind in its rent for its Massachusetts properties by $50 million was followed a month later by Steward’s announcement it would seek a $60 million bridge loan to cover the overdue rent.

Healey’s letter last week seemed to indicate the company had dug themselves into the hole they are in, and that their actions aren’t helping sick Bay State residents get better.

“For years, you have refused to engage in the same level of basic transparency that every other system in Massachusetts offers by not releasing your audited financial statements,” wrote Governor Healey. “Your continued refusal to do so, particularly at this moment, is irresponsible and an affront to the patients, workers, and communities that the Steward hospitals serve. It also leads to a further breakdown in trust and creates a major roadblock to our ability to work together to resolve this effectively.”

In a response to the letter, Steward said they have tried to be “transparent, compliant and cooperative” and will “commit” to do better. Steward also told state officials they do not have the required audited financial statements, according to the administration.

When asked what, if any, action the state could take to force Steward to comply with her demands to provide their financial information or to exit the Massachusetts hospital market, the governor said she would “continue to do what we’ve been doing.”

“This is something that has been a top focus of my administration and (Health and Human Services) Secretary Walsh for the last several weeks now. We are focused on protecting patients and protecting jobs. Protecting the stability of our healthcare system,” she said.

“This is a problem that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts did not create. One individual and one management team at Steward created this mess and it has put a lot of people at risk, caused a lot of understandable concern, and makes a lot of us really — really — angry about what transpired,” she said.

Steward operates Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Methuen, Morton Hospital in Taunton, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. The company also owns New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, though that facility is being closed, and Norwood Hospital in Norwood, which closed in 2020 due to flood damage.