Over the past three weeks, Steward Healthcare’s restructuring team has successfully sold hospitals across the country with very little drama after settling its major beefs with mega-landlord Medical Properties Trust, a sign the sale of Sebastian River Medical Center to Orlando Health might well be headed for a smooth closing later this month.

Upon the sale of three Arizona hospitals last week to Honor Health, federal bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez praised Steward‘s attorneys for the peace of mind they’ve given to communities of patients, doctors and Steward employees who have lived with uncertainty for more than six months since the operator of 31 hospitals in nine states filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 6.

“I want to thank all the parties for working really hard on this. I know this is going to keep hospitals open and continue care for very needy folks and important people in the community,” Lopez said.  Without the sales and the MPT settlement which brought an infusion of working capital, Steward had run out of cash to operate the remaining hospitals, including Sebastian River.

No notice of a closing date for the sale of Sebastian River to Orlando Health had been filed with the court as of press time, but the target date announced last month by Steward is Oct. 23.

Neither Orlando Health, nor Steward’s attorney on the Sebastian River hospital sale, Clifford Carlson, responded to Vero Beach 32963’s inquiries about an exact closing date, but Orlando Health felt confident enough that the sale would close to appoint a top executive to handle the transition.

As of Oct.1, a new Orlando Health vice president, Ohme Entin, was placed in charge of coordinating all the complex tasks involved in Steward’s handover of Sebastian River and two Brevard County hospitals.

“Ms. Entin will direct the integration of Melbourne Regional Medical Center, Rockledge Regional Medical Center and Sebastian River Medical Center into the Orlando Health system, as well as oversee operations and the future strategy” of what will be the new three-hospital East Region,” a corporate statement said.

Entin, a 21-year veteran of the hospital industry who began her career at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey before moving to the Charlotte Regional Medical Center, will report to Steve Burriss, chief operating officer of Orlando Health.

“Ohme is a transformative leader with a strong ability to develop and implement strategic initiatives,” Burriss said. “Ohme successfully managed the integration of Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital in 2020, where she served as hospital president, and I am confident she will lead an equally smooth and successful transition for the East Region team.”

“I look forward to welcoming our new team members and physicians to the organization this fall and to developing Orlando Health’s East Region,” said Entin.

Steward, meanwhile, filed a required notice on Sept. 25 of the sale of the real estate underlying the Sebastian hospital, as well as the Melbourne and Rockledge hospitals, to Orlando Health, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances, giving affected parties five days to object.

The only objection filed was from the owner of a medical office building built on hospital land in Rockledge that’s been long-term leased from MPT, needing clarification of its rights after the change of ownership – something that is presumably simple to address.

As part of the settlement between Steward and MPT, the real property underlying Sebastian River and the two Brevard hospitals will be transferred to Steward Health Care and then Steward will sell the property to Orlando Health, to make for a simpler transaction. The parties must close on the real property as a condition of the sale of the going concern of the hospital operation.

Until the closing, Steward continues to operate Sebastian River Medical Center and make all the day-to-day decisions, with Orlando Health personnel set to take the reins only after the closing on the hospital operation.

The published bid of Orlando Health for the complete enterprise of the three hospitals, including the land and buildings, is $439.4 million in cash, for a total value of $460 million as Orlando Health has agreed to assume some liability for employee paid time off already on the books.