Steward has not responded to March 7 request for information
Boston (March 26, 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.) today urged Steward Health CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre to testify at the Senate HELP Subcommittee hearing on April 3 in Boston, which will examine the impact of for-profit companies on health care access. This letter follows an initial invitation issued on March 1, 2024, and a public invitation issued on March 12, 2024. To date, Steward has yet to commit to participate.
The senators write, “Investing in and operating a health care system includes a responsibility to the public, and you must answer for Steward’s current financial insecurity and its impact on access to health care. You have led Steward since its formation and are in the best position to answer those questions. The public must hear directly from you.”
Steward Health Care—which operates nine health care facilities across Massachusetts—is currently facing significant financial insecurity as a result of previously accumulated debt. Steward Health Care was previously owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company that generated $800 million in profit from Steward. Steward’s inability to pay its debt has resulted in financial instability among several of the hospitals it owns in Massachusetts, creating a risk to patients and health providers.
Senator Markey will be chairing the Senate HELP field hearing on April 3 at 11:00 AM at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Senator Warren will also be attending the hearing. The hearing follows Senator Markey’s tour of the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts, and meeting with workers and providers calling for continuity of care in the wake of the Steward crisis.
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