St. Joseph Medical Center employees say they're missing paychecks after transitioning to new owners

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The transition to new ownership for St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston isn't going very smoothly for some hospital employees, who say they didn't receive their paychecks or the correct amount that they earned.

In May, Steward Health Care, who previously owned St. Joseph, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a news release, the company wrote that one of the primary factors included "challenges created by insufficient reimbursement by government payers as a result of decreasing reimbursement rates."

The healthcare system also cited skyrocketing labor costs, increased material and operational costs due to inflation, and the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for the bankruptcy filing.

In September, Healthcare Systems of America announced that it would take over eight of Steward's hospitals, including St. Joseph.

"Healthcare Systems of America is devoted to providing these communities the quality healthcare they deserve while saving the jobs of the employees that give so much to these hospitals and their patients," CEO Mike Sarian wrote in the September news release.

SEE MORE: St. Joseph to close its psychiatric facility in downtown Houston says it's no longer affordable

A current employee at St. Joseph, who asked to have their identity concealed due to fear of retaliation, told ABC13 they had no reason to be worried at the time.

"We were told by management everything will be fine. We will still operate as normal and receive our pay as normal," the staff member said.

But that's not what happened on Friday. The employee said they are one out of dozens of people who either didn't receive their paychecks or only received a portion of what they're owed. They claim management has yet to provide any updates after promising their check would come by Monday.

"I've been stressed, extremely stressed since the first because I was not prepared for this. I made prior arrangements for my bills, which none of them were able to be paid," they told ABC13.

In a statement to ABC13, Faisal Gill, chief legal officer for Healthcare Systems of America, wrote:

"Unfortunately, due to a variety of technical issues that developed during the recent management transition away from Steward Health Care, this payroll contained a significant number of errors. This is completely unacceptable, and we are taking measures to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again. We have been working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible, and everyone will be receiving the accurate funds for payroll within the next 24 hours. We apologize to everyone who was affected."

Staff members also raised concerns regarding delays in verifying prescriptions at their pharmacies, which could impact the quality of patient care. Gill said the situation is also related to transition issues, which will be resolved.

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