WARREN — Mayor Doug Franklin is urging the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to investigate for-profit hospital operator Steward Health Care.

In a letter dated April 25 and released to news outlets Monday, Franklin wants Attorney General David Yost to look into Steward’s use of Medicaid funds.

Now in federal bankruptcy proceedings in Houston, Steward was the former owner of Trumbull County health care facilities that included Trumbull Regional Medical Center on East Market Street and Hillside Rehabilitation Center in Howland.

After declaring bankruptcy in May 2024, Seward sold its local holdings to Insight Health System five months later. On March 28, Insight suspended all local operations. The health system cited its inability to receive funding owed to it from Steward.

“Steward has abruptly discontinued payments to Insight required under its bankruptcy proceedings,” Insight said at the time.

“Specifically, Steward informed Insight that they (Steward) would not be releasing significant funds to Insight on March 21, 2025, so that Insight has not received all revenue due to Insight and necessary to maintain facility operations (including meeting payroll obligations and vendor payments to ensure no disruption in patient service).”

The move was not unexpected as Franklin has criticized Steward early and often since Insight’s troubles became public. He alleges Steward engaged in bad acts, such as selling off the medical center’s real estate and extracting revenue from the facility.

“Since taking over Insight Trumbull and converting it back to a nonprofit, Insight has invested over $30 million of its own funds into Insight Trumbull to turn the hospital around and correct issues created by Steward,” Franklin wrote to Yost.

Franklin wants the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Unit to investigate Steward’s activities while in bankruptcy.

“Specifically, we request that you investigate Steward’s practice of withholding Medicaid payments from Insight and paying themselves and other vendors with Medicaid funds rightfully belonging to Insight Trumbull,” Franklin wrote.

“Steward continues to control and restrict the bank accounts in the bankruptcy where Medicaid, Medicare, and other government funds are deposited. Steward has refused to release these funds to Insight Trumbull which are necessary to fund the operations of the hospital. It is our understanding that it is illegal for Steward to withhold Medicaid payments from the provider providing services (Insight Trumbull).

“Unfortunately, the continued bad acts of Steward through the bankruptcy proceedings are crippling the hospital. As a result, Insight Trumbull has had to put services on diversion and place employees on furlough.”

Yost’s office has dealt with Steward in earlier proceedings. In August 2024, he filed a legal brief supporting efforts to keep the Trumbull facilities open while efforts were made to sell them. His intervention came nine days after Steward filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 21, 2024.

“Hospitals are lifelines for our communities, and the threat of closure due to financial strain means gambling with people’s lives,” Yost said at the time. “The health and well-being of Ohioans should never be sacrificed for the bottom line.”

Calls to Yost’s office for comment were unsuccessful.