A deal between Steward Health and UnitedHealth Group's Optum to purchase Steward's physician group has hit a dead end.

A report from Becker's Hospital Review says Optum has backed out of a deal to purchase Steward's physician group Stewardship Health citing an article from The Boston Globe.

The two companies never finalized an asset purchase agreement.

This development comes one day after 21 News reported the auction of Stewards three hospitals in the Valley, Trumbull Regional Medical Center, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital and Sharon Regional Medical Center have been indefinitely postponed.

Had this sale went through, those working at Steward's hospitals would have been employed by Optum.

This deal had faced some hurdles since its proposal with the U.S. Department of Justice voicing issues with the proposed timeline for hearings on the auction and sales hearings for the network.

An amended timeline for the first round of sales and auctions was later made.

21 News has reached out to a local representative for Steward Health to see what this means for employees of Steward's Valley hospitals, but they had no comment at this time.