The nation’s largest hospital landlord said an unusual transaction that provided crucial financial support for one of its biggest tenants was a done deal. It wasn’t. The deal was good news for both companies, and for communities across the country concerned that their local hospitals could go broke, the Wall Street Journal reported. The landlord, Medical Properties Trust announced the transaction in May. When it reported quarterly results on Aug. 8, it said the arrangement boosted its own revenue. But a California state regulator on July 20 ordered that the transaction between MPT and Prospect Medical Holdings be put on hold, according to the order that the regulator sent to Prospect. MPT didn’t disclose the regulator’s order when it reported second-quarter results, or in its quarterly report filed the next day with the Securities and Exchange Commission. MPT played a crucial role in private-equity firms’ push into healthcare facilities. It used cheap, plentiful financing to buy more than 400 hospitals, in some cases enriching private-equity firms that sold to MPT at high prices and paid themselves large dividends. Now some of the deals have soured. Hospital chains that are MPT’s tenants have closed facilities and cut services, reducing healthcare options in some communities.
