The CEO of hospital operator Steward Health Care, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May, resigns after failing to testify before a U.S. Senate panel. Ralph de la Torre will step down as CEO of troubled Steward Health Care next week, the company said on Saturday, after he was held in criminal contempt by the U.S. Senate for refusing to testify about cost-cutting decisions at the group’s 31 hospitals before it filed for bankruptcy.
In a statement, the Dallas-based company said de la Torre would no longer serve as its CEO and chairman as of October 1 as part of an agreement in principle reached earlier this month.
Steward Health CEO resigns
A spokesperson for de la Torre confirmed that the former heart surgeon “has amicably separated from Steward on mutually agreeable terms,” and “he will continue to be a tireless advocate for the improvement of reimbursement rates for the underprivileged patient population.”
Criminal contempt against Ralph de la Torre
The Senate unanimously voted on Wednesday to hold de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress after he declined to attend a Sept. 12 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which was probing Steward’s financial troubles. De la Torre had been subpoenaed to attend the hearing.
Steward Health bankrupt
Steward, the largest privately owned hospital network in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy in May, seeking to sell all of its hospitals and address $9 billion in debt. The company has sold several hospitals since that filing.
Among the assets sold during bankruptcy were three hospitals in Florida’s Space Coast area to Orlando Health. The operation of five others in South Florida were transferred to Medical Properties Trust, which owned the land and buildings, until buyers are found.
The Senate panel has been looking into Steward’s bankruptcy. De la Torre did not appear before it despite being issued a subpoena. The resolution refers the matter to a federal prosecutor.
De la Torre’s lawyers said testifying would violate their client’s Fifth Amendment rights, and he would not “be intimidated” by the “threat of prosecution.”
Steward Health Care under scrutiny
Dr. Ralph de la Torre had overseen a network of some 30 hospitals around the country, including eight in Florida. The Texas-based company’s troubled recent history has drawn scrutiny from elected officials in New England, where some of its former hospitals are located.
“Dr. de la Torre urges continued focus on this mission and believes Steward’s financial challenges put a much-needed spotlight on Massachusetts’ ongoing failure to fix its healthcare structure and the inequities in its state system,” his spokesperson said.
