This is the first subpoena issued by the Committee since 1981

VIDEO: Senator Markey blasts Steward CEO for greed, mismanagement; vows accountability

Washington (July 25, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, today was joined by fifteen bipartisan colleagues on the HELP Committee voting to subpoena Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to testify before the Committee on September 12. Despite numerous invitations from Senator Markey, including a joint invitation from Senators Markey and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dr. de la Torre refused to appear before the Committee. Dr. de la Torre is currently being investigated by the HELP Committee over the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care. This is the first subpoena issued by the Senate HELP committee since 1981.

“Under Dr. de la Torre’s leadership, health providers and hospital administrators watched emergency room lines grow, forced to face patients knowing that they did not have the resources nor staff needed to provide the world-class care that Steward and Dr. de la Torre promised,” said Senator Markey. “Dr. de la Torre took community hospitals, placed their fate in the hands of real estate investment trust and private equity vultures, and lined his own pockets at the expense of the people I and others here represent.   All the while, Dr. de la Torre and his corporate executive enablers at Steward, Cerberus, and Medical Properties Trust pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars and used it to engage in international schemes, spy on corporate rivals, and purchase luxury goods. His consistent refusals to offer basic answers has compounded Steward’s actual bankruptcy with moral bankruptcy.

“I say this directly to Dr. de la Torre: You cannot treat communities as expendable. You are accountable. I look forward to hearing from you on September 12.”

Today, Senator Markey introduced the Health over Wealth Actwith Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) to address the role of private equity and corporate greed in health care. The Health over Wealth Act would require that private equity-owned health care entities report on their debt, executive pay, lobbying and political spending, health care costs for patients, and reductions in services to patients for wages and benefits for staff. The bill would also increase protections for patients and health providers, increase accountability for private equity and consolidation in health care, and prohibit private equity companies from stripping assets from health care entities. These guardrails will protect patients, providers, and communities against corporate greed in health care and help preserve access to care.

At a Boston field hearing he chaired in April, Senator Markey released his new legislative agenda calling for transparency and accountability for private equity in health care; protecting patients, providers, and workers; and guaranteeing health care for all.  

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