The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Thursday to authorize an investigation into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care—owner of Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Haverhill—and subpoena company CEO Ralph de la Torre.
The order, the first issued by the HELP Committee since 1981, compels de la Torre to testify at a Sept. 12 hearing titled, “Examining the Bankruptcy of Steward Health Care: How Management Decisions Have Impacted Patient Care.” Addressing Committee Chair Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Edward J. Markey talked about Steward’s launch with six Massachusetts hospitals.
“And while all of that was going on, as you have pointed out, he was purchasing yachts, private jets, personally enriching himself and his other colleagues as this hospital system was left in disarray,” he said.
The committee authorized both the investigation and the subpoena in bipartisan votes—20-1 for the investigation and 16-4 for the subpoena.
Markey is chair of the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security.
“This is a story of private equity with no constraints, taking over a massive hospital system, and then looting it for their own personal wealth,” Markey said.
Sanders called out de la Torre’s $16 million annual salary and the company $15 million spent on a fishing boat, $62 million on a private jet and $33 million on a back-up jet while it “could not afford to pay for life-saving medical supplies.”
He said among the questions that will be asked is, besides the CEO, “who else benefitted financially from these financial schemes?” He added, “Cerberus, the private equity firm he partnered with, made an $800 million profit from its investments in Steward Health Care. Where did that money go?”