BOSTON — Tim Foley, Executive Vice President at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, released the following statement in response to news that Steward Health Care has finalized the sales of four of its Massachusetts hospitals to new buyers.

“Healthcare workers are incredibly relieved that after months of uncertainty, four of the eight Steward hospitals are now safe from the financial brinksmanship of Steward and its investors. Now, with Steward’s greed and mismanagement in the rear-view mirror at these sites, we can turn our full attention to the essential work of rebuilding our hospitals and caring for our patients.

We urge Steward to quickly finalize the sale of St. Elizabeth’s and Good Samaritan, so that healthcare workers —and the patients who rely on our care — can stop living in fear, and focus on the future. We are grateful to Governor Healey and her administration and to the Legislature for their leadership in preserving these six hospitals, and for their commitment of the substantial resources that are needed to stabilize our healthcare system.

With the closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center imminent, we continue to call on Steward and its investors to pay all laid-off workers what they are owed in accumulated PTO and severance pay. We also insist that the state work to preserve critical services that Carney and Nashoba Valley patients depend on, including emergency services, urgent care, full-service pharmacies, behavioral health services, and primary/preventative care.

Massachusetts is turning a new page in our healthcare system today, but workers will not forget how Steward’s investors spent years draining resources from these hospitals to fuel their profits. They still need to be held fully accountable for their misconduct and greed.”