US Hospitals Are Emerging From Bankruptcy Only to Falter Again

The hospitals that emerged from the bankruptcies of Steward Health Care System and Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. were supposed to help stabilize one of the world’s largest hospital landlords by restoring a battered tenant base after two years of industry stress.

Instead, many are already showing signs of renewed distress.

Several hospitals in Florida, California and other states — all important tenants of Medical Properties Trust Inc., the hospital landlord known as MPT — have fallen behind on payments to vendors and other creditors, court filings and other records show. The problems mark a fresh setback for MPT, which has ...