Boston (September 28, 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 Steward Health Care announced that Dr. Ralph de la Torre will resign as board chairman and CEO effective October 1, 2024. On September 25, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to refer de la Torre for criminal contempt of Congress for failing to respond to a subpoena issue by the Senate HELP committee, a step taken by the Senate for the first time in more than 50 years.??

“Ralph de la Torre’s resignation is not enough, and must be held accountable in the court of law. This resignation comes too late for the workers, patients, and communities that Mr. de Torre harmed and abandoned,” said Senator Markey. “He has extracted hundreds of millions from emergency departments, operating rooms, and intensive care units to buy luxury property, expensive vacations, and yachts, all while patients suffered and died and workers and hospitals went unresourced. As a physician and CEO of Steward, de la Torre knew the cost of his greed and mismanagement, and he allowed it to rot the financial security of an entire hospital system anyway. 

“Let’s not forget that Dr. de la Torre is just one part of this tragedy. His corporate enablers – Steward’s senior leadership and board of directors, Cerberus Capital Management, and Medical Properties Trust – also must face accountability. And every private equity firm and corporate entity that stands to profit from Steward’s bankruptcy and continued investment in hospitals across the country must understand that their profit-only gains cannot continue.” 

?

###?