The CEO of a bankrupt hospital system who was paid hundreds of millions of dollars while patients were allegedly “killed and maimed” in his impoverished and decaying institutions failed to attend a Senate hearing Thursday despite a bipartisan subpoena compelling him to appear.
Lawyers for Ralph de la Torre, the Harvard University-trained heart surgeon who took over Steward Health Care System in 2020, informed senators in a letter last week that he could not testify at the hearing. Despite previously agreeing to the hearing, de la Torre and his lawyers argued that a federal court order stemming from Steward’s bankruptcy case, filed in May, prevented him from speaking out amid restructuring and settlement efforts.
But that argument was dismissed as unfounded by the Senate committee that issued the subpoena in July, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). In remarks to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Sanders said there were plenty of topics he could have safely discussed.
“Tell me about your hunt”
“He decided not to show up because he doesn't want to explain to the American people how horrific his greed has become,” Sanders said. “Tell me about your yacht. Tell me about your fishing boat. I want to hear your justification for that. Tell that to the community where workers were laid off while you were making $250 million.”
On Thursday, lawmakers had set up a chair for de la Torre during the hearing, but it remained empty.
In a statement to ABC News on Thursday, Steward defended de la Torre's absence. “The Committee continues to ignore the ongoing settlement effort with all interested parties that paves the way to keep all of Steward's remaining hospitals open and jobs preserved,” the statement said. “Dr. de la Torre will not do anything that would jeopardize this effort.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers have moved ahead with plans to pursue civil and criminal charges for contempt of Congress. “A witness cannot ignore or evade a duly authorized subpoena,” Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said during today’s hearing. “Therefore, the Chairman and I will ask the committee today to report a resolution to authorize civil enforcement and criminal contempt proceedings against Dr. de la Torre, requiring compliance with the subpoena.” The committee has scheduled a session for Thursday, Sept. 19, to take up the two resolutions.
While the key witness was AWOL, the hearing continued, with stunning and horrifying testimony from two Massachusetts nurses and Louisiana state leaders who had experienced conditions in Steward’s hospitals, of which there are more than 30 in eight states. The most heartbreaking testimony came from Ellen MacInnis, a nurse at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, which was taken over by Steward.
