Steward spokesman: Letter of interest to purchase Jackson simply lapsed

Steward Health never grew tired of waiting for Miami-Dade County officials to respond to their letter of interest to purchase cash-strapped Jackson Healthcare and never declared the deal stalled, Steward spokesman Bruce Rubin tells FierceHealthcare in an email. Rather, Steward's letter of interest asked for the county's signature on or before March 16, which wasn't provided. "Since the county, for whatever [reason] of their own, chose not to sign it, the letter of interest lapsed," Rubin said. "It is as simple as that."

What's more, according to Rubin, there was no insistence on tax support, nor was the land deed an issue. "Nothing had progressed that far," Rubin continued. "As a member of the Public Health Trust noted, those were all subjects for negotiation. Had the county chosen to sign the letter of interest, it would have allowed Steward to perform, at its own expense, due diligence. The results of the due diligence were to be turned over to the county, and there was no obligation on the part of the county to accept any offer which may have been forthcoming from Steward for JMH."