What’s Mass. spending to keep Steward’s hospitals afloat? At least $489 million

State officials in Massachusetts confirmed Thursday they expect to provide more than $489 million over three years to help hospitals owned by the bankrupt, for-profit company Steward Health Care transition to new owners and keep serving patients.

Some of that money has already flowed to the hospitals to help pay salaries and other expenses while Steward finalized sales agreements. A bankruptcy court judge in Houston approved the deals Wednesday, and they are scheduled to close by the end of this month.

The judge also approved $42 million in immediate state aid to ensure the hospitals can make payroll next week and continue operating until the deals close. That will bring the total funding the state has provided so far to $72 million, in the form of advance payments for care the hospitals are providing to Medicaid patients.

After the judge’s approval of the sales, Gov. Maura Healey’s office said her administration has committed to providing another $417 million in support for the operators that take over the Steward hospitals. The funding will be spread out over three years, a spokesperson said, “to help keep these hospitals open for the benefit of our residents.”

The money will help fund operations at Holy Family Hospital, with campuses in Methuen and Haverhill, which will be purchased by Lawrence General Hospital; St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River and Morton Hospital in Taunton, which will be acquired by Lifespan; and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, which will be sold to Boston Medical Center.

Two Steward hospitals, Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, closed over the weekend, making clear the stakes of the effort to keep the remaining hospitals open.

Health care industry experts watching the Steward bankruptcy process have speculated the full cost to Massachusetts of shoring up the Steward hospitals could be as high as $700 million, though the initial figure from Healey’s office is lower than that.

A spokesperson for the administration said a significant piece of the funding, $105 million, will come from an assessment on hospitals. Another large chunk, $183 million, will come from federal reimbursements. And $44 million will come from Massachusetts taxpayers through the state’s general fund.

However, it’s likely the state will chip in more funding. A fifth hospital, one of Steward’s biggest in Massachusetts, is still the subject of a property dispute. It was unclear how much the state plans to provide for that facility, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center.

The Healey administration is working to take the St. Elizabeth’s real estate by eminent domain, and Boston Medical Center has agreed to run the hospital. But investors that control the property have vowed to fight this. A spokesperson for the Healey administration said more information about St. Elizabeth’s will be available “at a later time.”

Another lingering question is what will become of Steward’s Norwood Hospital, which closed after flooding in 2020 and was demolished. The company started construction on a new facility, but the project stalled as Steward faced financial headwinds. Norwood Hospital was not part of the auction that led to sales agreements for the other five hospitals.