Senator Markey and HELP Committee voted to subpoena de la Torre to testify on September 12, the first time the Committee had issued a subpoena since 1981

Washington (September 4, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health, and Retirement Security, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement on Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre’s request to reschedule the September 12 HELP Committee hearing titled “Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care.” Senator Markey, Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and their bipartisan colleagues on the HELP Committee voted on July 25 to subpoena de la Torre to testify in front of the committee on September 12, the first time the Senate HELP Committee had issued a subpoena since 1981.

“Dr. de la Torre’s defiance of a subpoena to appear before the Senate is outrageous,” said Senators Markey and Warren. “He got rich as private equity and real estate vultures picked apart, and drove into bankruptcy, hospitals that employed thousands of health care workers who served communities in Massachusetts and across the country. De la Torre used hospitals as his personal piggy bank and lived in luxury while gutting Steward hospitals. De la Torre is as cowardly as he is cruel. He owes the public and Congress answers for his appalling greed – and De la Torre must be held in contempt if he fails to appear before the Committee.”

In April, Senator Markey chaired a HELP subcommittee field hearing in Boston with Senator Warren titled, “When Health Care Becomes Wealth Care: How Corporate Greed Puts Patient Care and Health Workers at Risk,” during which Senator Markey released his legislative agenda that calls 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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