NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - Steward Health, which

operates 30 hospitals in nine U.S. states, filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy in Texas on Monday, aiming to secure a new loan from

its landlord Medical Properties Trust ( MPW ).

The privately-owned hospital chain said it would continue

serving patients as normal during its bankruptcy.

Steward has sought short-term financing and to sell its

physician group Stewardship Health, but the disposal has not

come together as quickly as planned, forcing it to seek up to

$225 million in financing from Medical Properties Trust ( MPW ).

"Steward was forced to seek alternative methods of bridging

its operations," Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre said on Monday.

"With the additional financing in this process, we are

confident that we will keep hospitals open, supplied, and

operating so that our care of our patients and our employees is

maintained," de la Torre added in a statement.

Steward recently closed a hospital in Massachusetts, where

state officials and politicians have said it did not disclose

the extend of its financial troubles until they were deep enough

to imperil medical care.

Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh

said on Monday that the state has been preparing for a possible

bankruptcy and would work to "support an orderly transfer of

ownership that protects access to care, preserves jobs and

stabilizes our health care system".