The Steward Health Care demise was set in motion months ago:

JANUARY 4

Steward Health Care reportedly owes $50 million in unpaid rent, its owner, Medical Properties Trust, Inc., said in a press release.

JANUARY 19

Steward is also the subject of more than a dozen lawsuits in Massachusetts filed by vendors and employees over unpaid invoices since 2022, the Boston Globe reported.

JANUARY 25

At least four of Steward’s hospitals could be in jeopardy of being sold “as soon as possible,” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch told WCVB.

FEBRUARY 2

Steward secured a “significant financial transaction” that an official said on Feb. 2 would “help stabilize” the company and save some of its Massachusetts hospitals from shuttering.

FEBRUARY 14

The Department of Public Health expanded oversight over all nine Steward hospitals, officials said at a Public Health Council meeting.

MARCH 26

In a disclosure that hinted at further transactions, state healthcare officials received notifications on March 26 concerning the proposed sale of Stewardship Health Inc. and the contracting Steward Health Care Network to OptumCare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.

APRIL 3

A chair for Steward Health CEO Ralph de la Torre was notably vacant during the U.S. Senate’s April 3 hearing on the catastrophic financial mismanagement of his company’s Massachusetts hospitals.

MAY 3

The state Department of Public Health activated an “Emergency Operations Plan” including a regionally-focused “Incident Command System.”

MAY 6

Steward filed for bankruptcy on May 6, with the company saying it had “commenced an in-court restructuring process” under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

MAY 8

All Steward hospitals were set to be put up for sale at auction this summer, the company’s bankruptcy attorneys told a Texas court.

MAY 20

A senior living facility owner and health care management consultant was appointed through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to monitor patient care at Steward Health Care facilities in Massachusetts and report immediately if she determined the quality of care was “declining significantly.”

JUNE 12

Bankruptcy court approved a $225 million loan to Steward, keeping the company’s hospitals functioning.

JUNE 20

Just a week before bids were due, the first round of sales at auction of the now-bankrupt Steward Health Care System’s hospitals was delayed in late June by several weeks, according to court filings.

JUNE 28

Optum informed the Health Policy Commission that it was no longer working to finalize an agreement with Steward around a sale.

JULY 15

All of Steward Health Care’s operational Massachusetts hospitals received bids for purchase during an auction held July 15.

JULY 25

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted on Thursday to launch a Congressional investigation into what led Steward to file for bankruptcy protections and to subpoena on-the-record testimony from de la Torre.

YESTERDAY

Steward announces it will close Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer on or around Aug. 31.

Herald wire services contributed to this report

Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre (File)