Steward Health Care is threatening to sue a small local nonprofit if they don’t return a $100,000 gift that was used to fund a low-income food voucher program at the Brighton Farmers Market.
The cash was first given to the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative – a community health nonprofit dedicated to serving low-income and under-resourced residents – in February 2024, after a GBH News investigation found that St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, then owned by Steward, had failed to provide grant funding to the nonprofit that was promised in writing. After receiving the payment, the nonprofit spent the money on its popular “veggie voucher” program, which helps low-income residents and older adults get access to fresh produce and healthy food.
Lawyers representing the bankrupt health system sent a letter to the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative earlier this month demanding they return the funding, saying because the payment was made within 90 days of Steward’s bankruptcy filing, it appeared to be “avoidable and recoverable by the debtors as preferential transfers and/or fraudulent conveyances.” An attorney not involved in the case told GBH News that likely means they believe Steward unfairly paid the nonprofit before other creditors in the weeks leading up to the company’s bankruptcy.
Leaders of the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative say that while they did receive the payment shortly before the company’s bankruptcy, Steward’s pledge to them went back years and they only paid up after GBH News reported on the issue in 2024. The nonprofit says it had no knowledge of Steward’s plans to file for bankruptcy before receiving the grant money.
Togut, Segal & Segal, the law firm representing Steward, declined to comment for this story.
“It’s a kick in the face,” said Jo-Ann Barbour, who chairs the collaborative’s steering committee. “This is an organization that is working to help deal with food insecurity with these funds and did just that. And now Steward wants to claw back that money.”
Barbour said the nonprofit has been in touch with Boston Medical Center Health System, which took control of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital amid Steward’s financial crisis. She said BMC offered to help the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative find a pro bono attorney to aid in the nonprofit’s response to Steward’s request, and the organization is hopeful they won’t be forced to return the $100,000.
Still, Barbour is concerned that if the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative is forced to return the cash, it would financially gut the nonprofit.
“This would mean we close down,” she said. “We don’t have the money.”
Steward’s request comes as the bankrupt company is reportedly threatening to cut off critical technology services for its former Mass. hospitals unless they pay millions of dollars.
