Several political leaders, including Massachusetts U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, have criticized Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre for refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before a Senate committee investigating the company’s bankruptcy. De la Torre’s lawyers cited a federal court order prohibiting him from discussing ongoing reorganization and settlement efforts as the reason for his refusal. Steward Health Care, which operated about 30 hospitals nationwide, filed for bankruptcy in May and has been attempting to sell its hospitals in Massachusetts. Despite receiving inadequate bids for some facilities, a federal bankruptcy court approved the sale of others.
In response to de la Torre’s refusal to testify, both Warren and Markey accused him of trying to avoid accountability and hide from the consequences of his actions. Markey stated that de la Torre’s decision to not appear before the committee was an attempt to evade answering to the American people, Congress, and the patients and workers of Massachusetts. Warren criticized de la Torre for thinking he is above the law and not having to answer for the destruction he has left behind. She suggested that his refusal to testify should lead to his removal from Steward Health Care.
While de la Torre did not rule out testifying before the committee at a later date in a letter to Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Warren argued that his actions should result in him being replaced at Steward. She expressed a desire for someone else to oversee the confidential information within the company instead of de la Torre. The lawyers representing de la Torre claimed that the Senate committee was attempting to turn the hearing into a pseudo-criminal proceeding to convict him in the court of public opinion, a sentiment that Sanders rejected in a statement.
Sanders declared that the committee would not accept the postponement of de la Torre’s testimony and vowed to hold him accountable for his actions. He stated that Congress would compel de la Torre to testify and address the mismanagement of Steward Health Care aggressively. The committee’s options include holding de la Torre in criminal contempt, which could result in jail time, or civil contempt, which would lead to fines until he appears. Both options would require a Senate vote. De la Torre had also declined invitations to testify at a previous Boston field hearing chaired by Markey, further escalating the tension between him and the Senate committee.
