Washington (August 22, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health, and Retirement Security, led the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09), today in sending a letter to Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, and Chief Restructuring Officer John R. Castello, regarding the closure of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, urging Steward to provide the more than 1200+ workers facing impending layoffs with severance pay and accumulated time off they are owed.
The lawmakers wrote: “We urge Steward not to hide behind the bankruptcy process and to instead recognize and fulfill its obligations to its workers. Steward must pay out their accumulated paid time off to all its workers. Some Steward workers also have negotiated severance payments in their collective bargaining agreements that Steward also must honor. For all its workers, Steward should provide as much severance in wages and benefits as practicable.”
The lawmakers continued: “Steward and its corporate enablers have ripped financial stability, job security, and health care access from workers who have made it their life’s work to save lives. They are allowing these hospitals to close at the expense of the workers they employ and the communities they promised to serve. Meanwhile, Steward’s CEO, Dr. Ralph de la Torre, continues to flaunt his wealth at Versailles. This is shameful. Workers and communities should not suffer for the mistakes of corporate executives. We urge you and your corporate enablers to rightfully compensate the more than 1,200 workers at Carney and Nashoba Valley whom your wrongdoing has harmed and to do everything in your power to prevent the risk of hospital closures in Massachusetts and across the country.”
Senator Markey has consistently advocated for transparency and accountability for private equity in health care amidst the Steward hospital crisis. On July 31, 2024, Senator Markey sent a letter to Steward Health Care, Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (MPT), and Macquarie Investment Partners (MIP), regarding Steward Health Care’s announced closure of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center and the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The letter was included with Massachusetts Nurses Association’s pleading before the Texas Southern District Bankruptcy Court objecting to Steward’s emergency motion to close Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center.
Also in July, Senator Markey spoke at a press conference after Steward announced the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester. Earlier in the month, Senator Markey was joined by fifteen bipartisan colleagues in voting to subpoena Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to compel him to appear before the HELP Committee on September 12 and answer for the business practices of Steward Health and the role private equity and real estate investment trusts played in its bankruptcy. This was the first time the Senate HELP Committee had issued a subpoena since 1981.
On July 25, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the Health Over Wealth Act, legislation that would put safeguards in place to protect workers, patients, and health care quality, access, and safety; create stronger accountability measures for corporate greed; and close tax loopholes that benefit real estate investment trusts making money off of health care property.
At a Boston field hearing he chaired in April on the Steward crisis and the role of corporate greed in health care, 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. Despite numerous invitations from Senator Markey, including a joint invitation from Senators Markey and Warren, to testify at the hearing, Dr. de la Torre refused.
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