Steward CEO steps down, sues Senate HELP Committee

Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I-Vt.) chairman of the Senate HELP committee

Photo: Screenshot of Senate HELP Committee Contempt Resolutions hearing

Dr. Ralph de la Torre has reportedly resigned as CEO of Steward Health Care and has brought a lawsuit against Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and other members of the HELP Committee.

De la Torre is seeking "judicial redress for continuing violations of his constitutional rights, particularly under the Fifth Amendment …" according to the lawsuit filed on Sept. 30 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

De la Torre wants a July 25 subpoena for him to appear before the HELP committee and all subsequent actions declared invalid and unconstitutional.

HELP Committee members undertook an effort to punish de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right "not to be compelled to be a witness against himself," the lawsuit said.

"Since Steward's bankruptcy announcement, members of the committee have painted Dr. de la Torre as a villain and scapegoated him for the company's problems, even those caused by systemic deficiencies in Massachusetts' healthcare system," the lawsuit said. 

WHY THIS MATTERS

On May 6, Steward, which has an estimated 30 hospitals nationwide, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

On July 25, the HELP Committee served a subpoena against de la Torre to appear on September 12 to testify about the bankruptcy and how the financial management of the health system has affected patient care.

"That hearing however, was simply a device for the committee to attack Dr. de la Torre and try to publicly humiliate and condemn him," the complaint said. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right "in the face of a ferocious campaign by members of the United States Congress and others, to pillory and crucify him as a loathsome criminal."

The HELP committee passed a Contempt Resolution against de la Torre on September 19.

De la Torre's attorney William A Burck, said in a statement "... Dr. de la Torre has invoked his inalienable rights under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which no one – not the Congress, not the President, not the Judiciary – has the right to deprive him of while he faces the criminal accusations the committee has hurled at him. No one can be compelled to testify when they exercise this right under these circumstances."

THE LARGER TREND

De la Torre founded Steward in Massachusetts in 2010 as an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, which acquired the nonprofit healthcare system Caritas Christi Health Care. 

Steward and Cerberus gave Caritas Christi a needed cash infusion, according to the complaint. Steward expanded nationwide.

The lawsuit blamed the continuing effects of COVID-19 as one reason for the financial downturn and eventual bankruptcy. It planned to sell its 30 hospitals across eight states, a move that was stalled. Two hospitals in Massachusetts have closed.

Sanders blamed "private equity vultures" for putting the health system $9 billion in debt and called de la Torre "the poster child for the type of outrageous corporate greed that is permeating through our for-profit healthcare system." 

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org