Senator (name not specified), U.S. senator, told Trumbull County officials he is "at the 3 yard line" on efforts to bring a new operator to the hospital closed after Stewart Health Care's collapse, saying bankruptcy proceedings and a real‑estate owner’s offer have opened a path for a buyer to restart services.

The senator said MPT Properties — a company that owns the hospital real estate — "has come to the table with a very generous offer of what they're willing to do, to move that real estate to a new operator," and that the "bankruptcy court process for Stewart is pretty much at the tail end," which he described as allowing a strategic buyer to step in. He also said InsightHealth is "stepping aside." "So we're at the 3 yard line," he said.

Why it matters: the closed hospital has left a practical gap in local care for residents, many of whom rely on Medicaid, and has economic and workforce consequences for Trumbull County. Local leaders pressed the senator to keep federal agencies and prosecutorial partners engaged and to avoid surprises in any sale or operator selection.

Discussion and local requests

Commissioner Malloy asked if a nonprofit operator such as Mercy Health could take over, saying the county has "had some meetings with Mercy Health" and that Mercy is "open to a lot of federal monies." "Would you, do you think that maybe it would be a good opportunity or an idea to have, a similar thing here in Warren, Ohio to open this up to a nonprofit entity similar to Mercy Health?" Malloy asked.

The senator said he is "agnostic as to how the operator is. What we need is an operator that is has a strong balance sheet that's healthy, and most importantly, that wants to be in the hospital business." He criticized operators he called private‑equity buyers who "buy assets," extract value and leave communities without services.

Peter Franklin, mayor of Warren, asked the senator to monitor federal approvals tied to billing and coding. Franklin said two hospital systems have applications in to take over billing using an "AI based billing and coding platform" and asked the senator to "keep an eye on that process so that there's, get too many time delays because the longer that hospital stays closed, the more difficult and expensive it is to bring it back." The mayor asked that the senator’s office track the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services process for those applications.

Accountability and coordination

The senator urged criminal and civil accountability where appropriate, saying the individual he named as responsible for Stewart Health’s actions "should be brought in jail" and that his office and the state attorney general have been engaged. He credited the attorney general for partnership and said prosecutors had helped move the situation toward the current phase.

He also asked local officials to coordinate and be "my eyes in this community," naming his state director (James Coyne) and regional director (Max Kovacs) as points of contact in his office. He asked officials to "send me a letter" outlining specific requests — for example about reusing federal funds or ARPA‑era reallocation — so his office can review them.

Direction vs. decision

The meeting produced discussion and requests for federal engagement and monitoring but no formal vote or transfer of assets. The senator repeatedly framed his statements as promises of advocacy and monitoring rather than final approvals: "I wish I had, we were at the finish line and, could announce the touchdown today," he said. He asked that local leaders be engaged "before" any public announcement of a buyer so local officials can review the prospective operator.

Quotations

"It's completely unacceptable what happened with Stewart Health Care," the senator said. "We had the opportunity to close out voting last night, and I wanted to come here because my number 1 concern here in this community is what's going on with the hospital."

"MPT Properties ... has come to the table with a very generous offer ..." the senator said.

Outcome and next steps

No formal vote or contract action occurred at the meeting. Officials asked the senator's office to monitor CMS and bankruptcy timelines, to coordinate with the state attorney general and to inform commissioners before a buyer is publicly introduced. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn.