Boston Globe Spotlight Team

A Globe Spotlight Team report on Steward Health Care

A Boston Globe Spotlight Team review found the Steward Health Care hospital system plagued by staggering neglect at the hands of executives, leaving Steward’s more than 30 hospitals among the worst, the most troubled, in the country over the last five years.

Concetta McCarthy visited the gravesite of her beloved cousin, Gilberto Melendez-Brancaccio, on July 17 in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy. Gilberto died at age 31 at Carney Hospital. She was like a sister to Gilberto growing up in Quincy.

They died in hallways. In line. Alone. Their deaths are the human cost of Steward’s financial neglect.

On the whole, Steward’s more than 30 hospitals have been among the worst, the most troubled in the country over the last five years, according to several measures.

Read the stories of patients who died after seeking care at Steward hospitals

The Spotlight Team identified at least 15 instances in which Steward Hospital patients died after failing to receive professionally accepted standards of care due to equipment or staffing shortages.

“Hospital Closed” signs are put up and chairs barricade the emergency department doors after the final closing on the last day at the emergency department at Carney Hospital in Dorchester.

Timeline: Steward Health Care kept expanding, even as the situation at hospitals turned dire

See key moments in the explosive growth and ultimate collapse of Steward Health Care.

Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, La.

Database: Federal deficiency reports for Steward Health Care’s hospitals

In the past five years, Steward hospitals accrued more than 300 deficiency findings from federal hospital regulators.

More coverage

Inside the secret financial dealings of Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre

Steward Health Care spent millions on surveillance of its critics — even amid financial crisis

Steward’s medical devices were repossessed. Weeks later, a new mother died.

Credits

Reporters: Liz Kowalczyk, Chris Serres, Jessica Bartlett, Elizabeth Koh, Mark Arsenault, and Yoohyun Jung
Contributors: Gordon Russell and Hanna Krueger of the Globe staff, and Khadija Sharife of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Editors: Brendan McCarthy and Mark Morrow
Visuals editor: Tim Rasmussen
Photographers: Craig Walker, Barry Chin, Kayla Bartkowski, David Ryan, and Andrew Burke-Stevenson
Director of photography: Bill Greene
Photo editors: Kevin Martin and Leanne Burden Seidel
Design: Ashley Borg, John Hancock
Development and graphics: John Hancock
Digital editor: Christina Prignano
Copy editor: Michael J. Bailey
Quality assurance: Meredith Stern and Michael Johnston
Audience: Cecilia Mazanec, Jenna Reyes, and Peter Bailey-Wells
SEO strategy: Ronke Idowu Reeves