Health Care

Steward Health Care said late Wednesday night that it has again postponed the sales hearing for its hospitals in Massachusetts, this time to next Thursday.

Pregnant people and those who recently gave birth could gain access to expanded care options in Massachusetts under compromise maternal health legislation released Wednesday.

Steve Roach, the president and CEO of two UMass Memorial Health hospitals in Marlborough and Leominster, departed from the Worcester-based healthcare system in June.

There are still no signs of firm agreements related to the sale of Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts, but the bankrupt company announced late Monday night that it has "entered into a definitive agreement" to sell its physicians network to a subsidiary of a New York-based private equity firm for $245 million in cash.

The fate of another Steward Health Care hospital in Massachusetts may be in jeopardy.

Tuesday's bankruptcy court hearing on the sale of as many as five Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts has been postponed until Friday.

Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre was on vacation two weeks ago when his company revealed that it planned to close two hospitals in Massachusetts, but he didn't have a hand in the decision or any say in the timing of the announcement, a spokesperson for the embattled executive said Thursday.

With frustrations mounting over the closure of Carney Hospital at the end of August, the Boston City Council adopted a resolution Wednesday calling for a public health emergency and applying new pressure on the state to protect patient care.

"Things are moving quickly I think right now in the bankruptcy court," Healey told reporters at the State House. "I'm cautiously optimistic but it's right now in the hands of the lenders."

State public health officials have scheduled public hearings on Steward Health Care's plans to close Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer later this month.