Senate’s first passage of criminal contempt resolution in more than 50 years

Washington (September 25, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate agreed to hold Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress. The HELP Committee voted unanimously on September 19 to hold de la Torre in civil and criminal contempt of Congress – a first in modern history.

“Over the past decade, Steward, led by its founder and CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, and its corporate enablers, looted hospitals across the country for profit, and got rich through their greedy schemes. Hospital systems collapsed, workers struggled to provide care, and patients suffered and died. Dr. de la Torre and his corporate cronies abdicated their responsibility to these communities that they had promised to serve. Extracting hundreds of millions in profit, de la Torre used the suffering of people under Steward’s care to finance his luxury lifestyle, filling his garages and hangars with fancy cars and private planes, and becoming the posterchild of callous corporate greed.

“I’ve requested Dr. de la Torre’s appearance multiple times in front of members of the HELP Committee to answer for his corporate greed, but time and time again, he has refused and hid behind excuses. I applaud the Senate’s actions today to hold Dr. de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress. It is long past time that he be held accountable.”

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